Peltophorum pterocarpum
Common Names: yellow poinciana, yellow flame tree, copper-pod, yellow flamboyant tree Family: Fabaceae/Leguminosae (bean Family) Description Yellow poinciana is a very showy flowering tree up to 50' tall, with wide-spreading branches that form an umbrella-like crown up to 25' across. The stems and twigs are rusty-red tomentose (fuzzy). The leaves are bipinnate (twice compound), about 2' long with 8-20 pairs of 3/4"-long oblong leaflets. The fragrant flowers are clustered on upright stalks (racemes, actually) about 18" long. Each flower is about an inch and a half across with translucent yellow, strangely-crinkled petals. The flowers have conspicuous orange stamens and each petal has a reddish brown mark in the center. They are followed by purplish brown, flattened, oblong seed pods, 3-4" long, which remain on the tree until the next flowering season. Location Yellow poinciana is native to coastal areas from Sri Lanka through the Malay archipelago and I...