Fact Check: Flower in the viral image does not bloom only in the holy week, there is a cross in the middle

Meanwhile, an image of a red-coloured flower is circulating on social media with the claim that it shows a flower that blooms in New Zealand, and that it is called ‘Blood of Jesus on the Cross’ flower. The message also claims that the flower only blooms in the Holy Week and we can see a cross in the middle of the flower.

The caption goes as “This New Zealand flower only blooms during Holy Week. It's called the Blood of Christ. Note the cross in the center of the flower. It is called the light of Christ. When you look at the flower says tenderly: Lord Jesus enlighten my family with your precious blood. Send this flower (message) to another family to enlighten them as well. Amen!

ఈ న్యూజిలాండ్ పువ్వు పవిత్ర వారంలో మాత్రమే వికసిస్తుంది. దీనిని క్రీస్తు రక్తం అని పిలుస్తారు. పువ్వు మధ్యలో ఉన్న శిలువను గమనించండి. దీనిని క్రీస్తు వెలుగు అని పిలుస్తారు. మీరు పువ్వును చూసినప్పుడు ఆప్యాయంగా ఇలా చెబుతారు: ప్రభువైన యేసు మీ విలువైన రక్తంతో నా కుటుంబాన్ని ప్రకాశవంతం చేయండి. ఈ పువ్వు (సందేశం) మరొక కుటుంబానికి కూడా వారిని ప్రకాశవంతం చేయడానికి పంపండి. ఆమెన్!”

The claim is also viral on WhatsApp with the same caption in English and Telugu.

Fact Check:

The claim is Misleading. The flower seen in the image is from a tree named Metrosideros excelsa.

When we searched for a flower that blooms during the Holy Week, we did not find anything in the plant databases. When we searched the flower’s image using Google reverse image search, we found that the flower is from a tree called Metrosideros excelsa, also known as Pohutukawa. The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) explains that “the tree is native to New Zealand and Australia and is invasive in Japan, Spain, England, Ireland, and South Africa. It can currently be found in a multitude of places, apart from New Zealand.

The article that reviews the basic characteristics of the Pohutukawa also explains that mass flowering occurs from December to January. In fact, as the text points out, “it’s commonly called New Zealand Christmas tree, as the flowering period coincides with Christmas”. It also observes that “it is not true that it only flowers during Holy Week. It’s possible that the flowering period in more northerly latitudes is delayed and therefore coincides with Holy Week, but that’s not how it is in its country of origin or in similar latitudes”.

According to the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network article, the tree is up to 20 mt tall with a canopy spread in 10–50 mt. Specimens are typically multi-trunked from the base, trunks up to 2 mt in diameter, branches spreading and often arching, sometimes looping over ground, and/or bearing “brooms” of aerial adventitious roots. Branchlets numerous, twiggy and long-persistent; young branchlets tomentose, being covered in fine, deciduous, greyish-white hairs. Bark firm, persistent and difficult to detach, often deeply furrowed, grey to grey-brown, somewhat corky. Leaves of all but water shoots leathery, 25–120 × 25–60 mm, elliptic, oblong, rarely lanceolate, apex acute or obtuse, dark olive-green, undersides thickly clad in white tomentum, adaxial surface at first distinctly tomentose but hairs shedding with leaf maturation. Flowers borne on stout, tomentose pedicels, crimson, orange, pink, yellow (or very rarely white). Hypanthium obconic, calyx lobes triangular (deltoid).

According to gardenia.net, Metrosideros excelsa is an evergreen, wide-spreading tree boasting big clusters of showy flowers packed with prominent crimson stamens. It blooms in late spring to early summer.

When we searched images of the flowers of pohutukawa trees, we could establish that the flowers do not have a Cross in the middle. Snopes and Verificat.cat also debunked this claim.

Hence, the claim is Misleading. Though the image of the flower is from a tree named the New Zealand Christmas tree, it does not bloom only in the Holy Week, and there is no Cross in the flowers.