Laburnum anagyroides during May and June. "Laburnum anagyroides" blooms in late spring with pea-like, yellow flowers densely packed in pendulous racemes 10–25 cm (4–10 in) long. The flowers are golden yellow, sweet scented, and typically bloom in May. The seeds are legumes with large numbers of black seeds that contain cytisine, an alkaloid extremely poisonous to humans as well as goats and horses, especially when not ripe. However, some wild animals such as hares and deer can feed on them without any problems, and because of this the plant is believed to have magic properties in some regions. All parts of the
Flowers Are Red original version is excerpted. The song tells the story of a little boy who on the first day of school started drawing pictures of flowers using many different colors. The teacher (sung by Chapin in a falsetto voice) tells him that he should not be coloring because it is not time for art, and in any case, the boy is coloring the flowers all wrong and that he should paint them red and green, "the way they always have been seen." The boy disagrees and continues to color them from his imagination until the teacher punishes him by standing him