Pride of Barbados

Description:

Each flower has five petals with 10 long, red stamens protruding from the corolla. The flowers are 2 to 3 inches across and bowl-shaped and grow on terminal clusters. Widely grown across the South and West, in Hawaii they are used for making leis. It also is called flower fence, peacock flower, Mexican bird of paradise and dwarf flamboyant, as well as pride of Barbados. The bush grows to 20 feet in height and is just as wide. It is fast growing and can be pruned back to ground level each year to produce a fuller bush. Takes alkaline soil, is drought tolerant and salt-wind tolerant. The leaves look like a royal poinciana leaf, and often this plant is nicknamed the dwarf poinciana. They are small, fern-like and have many small, oval leaflets on twice-compound branches. The seeds grow in pods and are small and brown. When the pod opens it noisily pops.

Habitat:

Growing in a mix of trees next to a road.