This is also known as Barbados Flowerfence, Peacock Flower, Dwarf Flamboyant, Caesalpinia. The species name pulcherrima literally means “very pretty”.
It is botanically called Caesalpinia pulcherrima
The blooms of Pride of Barbados are incredible with terminal flower clusters showing an orange-red with a tinge of gold on the edges. Each flower is composed of five showy petals with very prominent six inch long red stamens. This makes the Pride of Barbados one of the most attractive heat loving plants for San Antonio!
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Pride of Barbados is believed to be native to the West Indies and tropical America. It is widely cultivated and has escaped cultivation and become established in tropical regions throughout the world, including South Florida.
The selection of Pride of Barbados that we desire here in San Antonio is a smaller dwarf compact selection named Dwarf Poinciana, Pride of Barbados. Local collaboration of regional propagation sources will be increasing adequate numbers of available plant material in the next two years.
Once suitable numbers become available, the Pride of Barbados selection of the Dwarf Poinciana plant will be officially release in the spring of 2008 as a Texas SuperStar plant. It obviously meets all the criteria of a Texas SuperStar Plant.
Pride of Barbados is very easy to grow in alkaline to acidic, well-drained soils. This is a fast growing, but short lived plant. It is moderately tolerant of salty conditions. Pride of Barbados flowers benefit from pruning, and can be shaped to tree form or shrubby bush form. These plants prefer full sun to partial shade. Pride of Barbados flowers bloom best in full sun. Also, Pride of Barbados is considered drought tolerant once established.
The striking orange red flowers are an attention grabber and butterflies love them! Use Pride of Barbados as a specimen or in a mixed shrub border. It has an open, spreading habit and the branches sometimes get too long for their own good and break off. Still, a row of Pride of Barbados makes a showy, fine-textured screen or informal hedge. You can cut Pride of Barbados to the ground in late winter or early spring to get a bushier, more compact shrub.
There are some 70 species of Caesalpinia in tropical regions worldwide. They were formerly placed in the genus Poinciana, but that genus name is no longer used. We all can’t grow the tropical, Royal Poinciana (Delonix regia), considered to be the most beautiful tree in the world, but for gardeners in zones 8 and 9, the selection of Pride of Barbados(a.k.a. Dwarf Poinciana) is a close second and for sure a number one future Texas SuperStar winner here for San Antonio.
This is a little piece about the plant Pride of Barbados, one of the flower I love so much, it makes my day alot when I was an undergraduate on campus.
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