John&Jacq~s Garden

The flamboyant display of Caesalpinia pulcherrima (Dwarf Poinciana)

Caesalpinia pulcherrima (Dwarf Poinciana, Pride of Barbados, Peacock Flower, Red Bird-of-Paradise)

A spectacular sun-loving flowering shrub or small tree that will be an excellent specimen in the garden if you have the space! Space above for its wide spreading branches and space below for its expanding root system or to ‘soak in’ its fallen debris.

A pity we don’t! Our front yard garden is not only mostly paved but too small for this vigorous-growing beauty with brilliantly bicolored blooms of scarlet and yellow, in flamboyant display! Thus, we had to part company reluctantly so to speak, about 2 years ago when it grew to 6 feet tall and as wide. Though stunning and beautiful, it can mess the area around with yellow leaves and spent flowers/stamens/petioles littering onto plants and ground below! Definitely, not suited for our small garden plot!

Nonetheless, Peacock Flower is close to my heart and never to be forgotten as my other blog bears its name and has a short post on it too!

Plant Profile, Culture and Propagation :

• Botanical Name: Caesalpinia pulcherrima (syn.: Poinciana pulcherrima)
• Common Name: Dwarf Poinciana, Dwarf Flamboyan, Pride of Barbados, Barbados Pride, Barbados Flower-fence, Peacock Flower, Paradise Poinciana, Red Bird-of-Paradise
• Family name: Fabaceae/Leguminosae
• Plant type: Flowering perennial shrub or small tree, native to tropical Central America and Caribbean (West Indies)
• Features: Caesalpinina pulcherrima is a tropical perennial shrub or small tree that can reach 15-20 ft in height, though typically 8-12 ft tall in cultivation. It is evergreen in the warmer tropics, and semi-deciduous to deciduous in sub-tropical regions. A fast-growing bush with low branches in an open and spreading habit, growing as far and wide as its height, sometimes appearing unkempt if not pruned. The trunk and branches are usually armed with thorns.
  
  Nevertheless, it is impressive with lovely green foliage, displaying large fern-like or feathery leaves on petioles up to 2 ft long. They are alternate at wide intervals, bipinnately compound with many pinnas bearing simple and smooth obovate leaflets.
  
  
  
  And, even more stunning are the flowers that it bears plentifully throughout the year in the tropical regions, in single color of red, orange to scarlet, yellow and pink or gorgeously bicolored. The terminal inflorescence held on long and erect stalks are beautifully displayed above the complementary green foliage. Very showy flower clusters…even as the lower and older florets are shed, rounded buds above begin to bloom, showing off its colorful spoon-shaped 5-petaled flowers with crinkly edges and long protruding stamens. This lovely bush starts flowering even when very young.
  It also produces flat and green seed pods about 3-6 ins long abundantly, emerging along the bottom of the inflorescence that quickly darken to brown when ripe and containing shiny brown flat beans which can be used for propagation. Besides, seeds fallen on ground self-sow readily too.
  
  Though C. pulcherrima or the Peacock Flower Tree resembles the Delonix regia (Royal Poinciana or Flamboyant) in many ways, it is much smaller in stature and aptly known by one of its common name, Dwarf Poinciana.

• Culture (Care): C. pulcherrima can be easily grown with minimal maintenance in the tropical and sub-tropical countries.
  Light: Best growth and flowering in full sun, but grows well too in partial shade.
  Moisture: Medium water requirements, drought tolerant when established and moderately salt tolerant.
  Soil: Well-drained alkaline to acidic soil, but adaptable to any kind of soil, even sandy and loamy.
  Others: Prune the bush regularly after flowering to avoid becoming messy or appearing unkempt and straggly. It tolerates hard pruning, so do the needful to shape as a tree or a shrubby bush. Feed with a liquid fertilizer monthly. No serious pests or diseases.
  For sub-tropical regions: Hardiness: USDA Zone 8-11 with minimum of 21 degrees F. It is not frost-hardy, dies to the ground following frost or freezing temperatures, but returns fine in warmer conditions (late spring) and flowers all through summer and fall. It is winter deciduous, so water and fertilize sparingly in winter. Recommended to prune in late winter or early spring. If necessary, cut to below 30 cm above ground.

• Propagation: From seeds which germinates easily though faster if scarified and soaked in hot water. Alternatively, allow it to self-sow seedlings on the ground from fallen seeds. Can be propagated from cuttings too.

• Usage: This ornamental flowering shrub will be perfect as a specimen tree in the garden, screen or informal hedge. Well-suited to be grown in large containers too. Can also be used for tropical landscaping. Plant it to attract bees, butterflies and birds, especially hummingbirds to your garden.
  C. pulcherrima is used as a traditional medicine, widely in India, Taiwan and South America, to name a few. The leaves are used as a purgative and the different parts of this herbal plant have been used in common remedies for treatment of a number of disorders including pyrexia, menoxenia, wheezing, bronchitis and malarial infection. It contains numerous compounds such as flavonoids, flavonoid of quercetin and others, extracts of them have been found to possess anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antimicrobial activities. Read more at ScienceDirect and The Journal of Microbial Chemotherapy.

Some of the popular varieties are:

• C. pulcherrima ‘Red Bird-of-Paradise’ – a bicolored variety with scarlet (orange-red) flowers and yellow margins;
• C. pulcherrima ‘Rosea’ – a rare bicolored variety with pink flowers and white margins; (view lovely images at mgonlinestore)
• C. pulcherrima ‘Flava’, ‘Phoenix’ or ‘Mexican Bird of Paradise’ – all yellow, flowers as well as stamens; (see photos at Uni. of Arizona – PCCE)

Closely related and bearing somewhat similar features is Caesalpinia gilliesii (Yellow Bird of Paradise) which has yellow flowers with long red stamens. Check it out at Horticulture Unlimited, Inc.

Other external links:
Floridata
IFAS, University of Florida

More photos of Caesalpinia pulcherrima, grown in our garden and elsewhere:

C. pulcherrima ‘Red Bird-of-Paradise’ – with scarlet and yellow flowers

C. pulcherrima ‘Red Bird-of-Paradise’ – with scarlet and yellow flowers

C. pulcherrima ‘Phoenix’ or ‘Flava’ – with both flowers and stamens in yellow

Last edit: June 1, 2016

Tags: butterfly plants, flowering plants, orange, outdoor plants, perennials, pink, red, shrubs, trees, yellow