The month of May is traditionally when tung flowers are in peak bloom. But under the influence of global warming, tung flower season has been starting and ending earlier. This year, the blossoms at New Taipei’s Sanzhi were nearly all gone by mid-May.

Stephany Yang
Formosa News reporter
We are currently at Hengshanli trail in Sanzhi. Every May Tung flowers bloom here, but due to the warm weather this year, the tung flower season has ended earlier than expected.

Tung flowers, which are admired for their vibrant white petals, usually start to bloom in April and peak in May. But this year, the flowers reached full bloom early. At one trail in New Taipei, there was barely a blossom to be seen by mid-May.

Member of the public
Usually, tung blossom season is in May. But the tung flowers bloomed in April this year. So now there are no flowers in May.

Each year, the Hakka Affairs Council hosts a Tung Blossom Festival. On the website for this year’s event, flower lovers have left comments lamenting the early end to the season. As early as May 4, one horticulturist wrote that most of the tung blossoms in Taoyuan had already died.