Monkeypod

Monkeypod trees are the great shade trees of the islands. They spread a wide, flat crown that can cover a whole yard, and their broad paired leaflets fold up at dusk and in the rain.

When they bloom, the canopy fills with small powderpuff flowers — bundles of thread-fine stamens, greenish-cream at the base and brushed with rose only at the tips. They are easy to miss until you look up, and then the whole tree hums with bees.

It is a tree built for picnics and afternoon naps and slow conversations. The photograph is the feeling of sitting under something older and steadier than the day.