"A species of self-destructing palm trees that flower once every 100 years and then die has been discovered on Madagascar,“ The New York Times reports (17 Jan 08). Mijoro Rakotoarinivo of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Madagascar is quoted as saying: "It does not flower for maybe 100 years and can be mistaken for other types of palm. But then a large shoot grows out of the top and starts to spread, a bit like a Christmas tree.“ The article goes on to explain that "those branches then become covered in hundreds of tiny white flowers that ooze with nectar, attracting insects and birds.“
However, this spectacular botanical show has its down side. "The effort of flowering and fruiting depletes the tree so much that within a few months it collapses and dies.“ This outrageous floral showing is made even more special by the fact that it seems that only about 100 of these trees exist.
If this is viewed as a sleep dream, it would seem to be cautioning us, but how? That we should be wary of shooting our wad madly, since it could be our downfall? Or is it that we should throw caution to the wind and go out with a bang instead of a whimper? What might this dream mean to you?