Taitung: Uneven plum blossom flowering in the Luanshan Tribe in Taitung County, southeastern Taiwan, is the result of last year's typhoon damage combined with the area's hillside terrain, according to an agricultural association head.According to Focus Taiwan, Ho Chieh-chen, a standing committee member of the Taitung Organic Agriculture Development Association, explained that plum trees spared by strong winds have bloomed normally, while those affected are flowering later due to their tender, newly grown trunks. Ho, who is also a plum farmer, noted that plum blossoms typically bloom about one month before the Lunar New Year, with this year's season expected to conclude by early February.Lu Po-sung, deputy director of the Ministry of Agriculture's Taitung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, added that some plum trees damaged by the storm in August last year did not regrow leaves until September and October. The lingering leaves have not fully fallen, disrupting bud development and floweri ng, limiting timely blooming to undamaged trees.Lu highlighted that flowering has reached about 40 to 50 percent in areas above 500 meters in elevation, whereas areas below this level are only about 10 to 20 percent in bloom. Typhoon damage has caused a disrupted flowering cycle, with some trees showing both blooming and non-blooming branches simultaneously.He further explained that poor bud differentiation has shortened the flowering period from the usual seven to eight days to about three to four days, after which petals begin to fall.