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Caesalpinia pulcherrima
Caesalpinia pulcherrima at the Desert Demonstration Garden in Las Vegas
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae
Genus:	Caesalpinia
Species:	C. pulcherrima
Binomial name
Caesalpinia pulcherrima (L.) Sw.

var. flava in Hyderabad, India.

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.

It is also found in many parts of India, known by the names Krishnachura or Radhachura (Bengali), Guletura (Hindi), Kenjige (Kannada), Settimandaram (Malayalam), Krishnachura (Manipuri), Sankasur (Marathi), Krishnochuda (Oriya), Sidhakya (Sanskrit), Mayurkonrai (Tamil), Ratnagandhi (Telugu). It is commonly planted as an ornamental shrub in domestic and public gardens and has a beautiful inflorescence in yellow, red and orange. Its small size and the fact that it tolerates pruning well allows it to be planted in groups to form a hedgerow; it can be also used to attract hummingbirds.^[1]

Medicinal Uses

Medicine men in the Amazon Rainforest have long known some of the medicinal uses for Caesalpinia pulcherrima, which is known as ayoowiri. The juice from the leaves is said to cure fever, the juice from the flower is said to cure sores, and the seeds are said to cure bad cough, breathing difficulty, and chest pain. Four grams from the root is also said to induce abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.^[2][3]

References

Gallery

A yellow and red Poinciana

var. flava- leaves in Hyderabad, India.

var. flava in Hyderabad, India.

var. flava in Hyderabad, India.

From Wikispecies

Caesalpinia pulcherrima

Taxonavigation

Classification System: APG II (down to family level)

Main Page
Cladus: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiospermae
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids I
Ordo: Fabales
Familia: Fabaceae
Subfamilia: Caesalpinioideae
Tribus: Caesalpinieae
Genus: Caesalpinia
Species: Caesalpinia pulcherrima

Name

Caesalpinia pulcherrima (L.) Sw.

Vernacular names

References

• Observ. bot. 166. 1791
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Data from 07-Oct-06]. [1]

For more multimedia, look at Caesalpinia pulcherrima on Wikimedia Commons.