Carao (Cassia grandis), known internationally as the Pink Shower Tree or Horse Cassia, transforms the Central American landscape each year with its spectacular flowering display. When its pink blossoms cascade from bare branches in late dry season, entire hillsides turn rose-colored, announcing that the rains are near. Beyond its stunning beauty, Carao has been treasured across Latin America for centuries as a traditional blood tonic—its fruit pulp is believed to treat anemia and strengthen the blood. This magnificent flowering tree combines ornamental splendor with cultural medicine in a way few trees can match.

There is a moment in the Guanacaste dry season when the landscape seems on the edge of exhaustion—the grass brown, the trees bare, the earth cracked and waiting. And then, as if in answer to the land's silent plea, the Carao trees erupt into bloom. Pink cascades spill from their naked branches, transforming hillsides into rose-colored dreams, announcing that the rains—the renewal—will soon come. This is no ordinary flowering; it is a celebration, a promise painted in petals. For centuries, people have gathered beneath these trees, collecting the dark, sticky fruit that falls after the flowers fade. "Para la sangre," they say—for the blood. Whether the Carao truly heals as tradition claims, or whether its power lies in the hope it represents, hardly matters. What matters is the continuity: the same trees that bloomed for ancient peoples still bloom today, their pink flowers still falling like rain before the rain, their fruit still gathered by hands that trust in its dark sweetness. In a world of change, the Carao keeps its annual appointment with beauty and with medicine, a living bridge between earth and sky, between tradition and tomorrow.