Penta-Colored Locust Tree

Penta-Colored Locust Tree

The Penta-Colored Locust Tree is located in Xinci Village, Luzhuang Township, Linqing City. The tree stands 10.92 meters tall with a circumference of 1.2 meters, and features three hoof-like markings on its exposed roots.

The 1939 *Guan Tao County Annals* recorded: “To the left of the Guanyin Hall in Xinci Village stands an unusual locust tree that blooms in summer, with each flower displaying five colors.” The Penta-Colored Locust Tree blooms later than common locust trees, has a long flowering period, and its flower stems are grass-green, drooping, and vary in length. The flower bodies are long and flat, resembling ruyi flowers. The flower clusters look like upside-down cockscombs with small thorns, their tips shaped like dragon heads. The colors of the locust blossoms transition from the inside out in five shades: purple, red, green, yellow, and white, and the fragrance is pleasant.

Legend has it that the Penta-Colored Locust Tree was planted during the Former Han Dynasty. When Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty passed by, he found the blossoms in brilliant bloom and lingered under the tree, reluctant to leave. Later, the old tree died, but a sapling grew beside it that still produced five-colored flowers. The current Penta-Colored Locust Tree is this very sapling, and Xinci Village is also named after it — “Penta-Colored Locust Xinci.”