In the genus Caesalpinia the most popularly planted species is Caesalpinia pulcherrima. Common names for this species include Poinciana, Peacock Flower, Red Bird of Paradise, Mexican Bird of Paradise, Dwarf Poinciana, Pride of Barbados, and flamboyan-de-jardin. It is a shrub growing to 3 m tall, native to tropical America. The leaves are bipinnate, 20-40 cm long, bearing 3-10 pairs of pinnae, each with 6-10 pairs of leaflets 15-25 mm long and 10-15 mm broad. The flowers are borne in racemes up to 20 cm long, each flower with five yellow, orange or red petals. The fruit is a pod 6-12 cm long.
It is a striking ornamental plant, widely grown in tropical gardens. It is also the national flower of the Caribbean island of Barbados, and is depicted on the Queen's personal Barbadian flag.
In India it is found in the tropical rain forests. With a beautiful inflorescence in yellow, red and orange, it is called "Ratnagundhi" colloquially.
Caesalpinia pulcherrima- var. flava | Fabaceae | Dwarf Poinciana, Poinciana, Peacock Flower, Red Bird of Paradise, Mexican Bird of Paradise, Pride of Barbados, flamboyan-de-jardin, Ratnagundhi, shankhasur, Radha Chuda, RAJAMALLI | Flowering on 1/6/08 at Butterfly Park, Hyderabad, AP- J.M.Garg | Beautiful Trees & shrubs of Calcutta- Flowers profusely in spring (Feb.- April) & Autumn (Sept.- Nov.), occasionally in other seasons. | Caesalpinia pulcherrima - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia | Dwarf Poinciana (Caesalpinia pulcherrima)- var. flava - indiantreepix | Google Groups |