The flamboyant-de-jardin: a tree with many uses.

manuelhooks (72)Verified | Club5050in Nature & Agriculture • 7 days ago

flamboyant-de-jardin

This post was made out of curiosity. I noticed this tree in almost all schools and was asked to identify it in my final secondary school examination. Being found in schools and lining the sidewalks of streets, I wanted to know: is it solely for decoration, or are there any other values associated with this plant?

I initially knew this plant as pride of Barbados, but during the examination, I was expected to identify it as Caesalpinia pulcherrima, though you may know it as the Mexican bird of paradise, peacock flower, Ohai aliʻi, flos pavonis, flamboyant-de-jardin or dwarf poinciana.

This stunning flowering shrub has a peculiar flower that looks like a peacock in full display with ruffled petals of yellow, orange, and a pinkish-red colour, arranged like a cone with fully opened flowers at the base, hanging on long stalks.

This plant almost grows into a small tree, and locally it holds its leaves throughout the year.
Speaking of the leaves, it is made up of a compound structure with many oval-shaped leaflets.

The numerous uses of this plant explain why it is planted all over the place. Well known for its ornamental value, the pride of Barbados makes an excellent living fence with its thorny stem. Some parts of the plant, like its roots, flowers and leaves, appear prominently in traditional medicine, and in some cosmetics and dye.

Now that you know this much about the pride of Barbados, If you want to have this plant in your garden, you can consider planting its seed or transplanting a young seedling. The seeds come protected in a pod that starts green and ends up brown when dried..

A plant with some edible parts, which can address fever, function as a fence, a dye and is used in traditional medicine for jaundice and kidney diseases, will no doubt be planted all around, but if you are not trained in the use of this plant, please avoid it because some parts of this plant are toxic to humans.

I am inviting you and the following to comment on the popularity and uses of pride of Barbados @bela90, @nspidoz, @ninapenda, @dequeen, @rubee2as1 and @whoever can add value to this post.