Barbados Flame

Fri, 05 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_1075” align=“aligncenter” width=“584” caption=“Barbados Flame Tree”][/caption]

“Poinciana, your branches speak to me of love Poinciana, your branches speak to me of love Poinciana from now until the dawning day Our love, will live forever and a day Blow tropic wind, sing a song through the tree Tree sigh to me, soon my love I will see” ……Song to the Poinciana

I just returned from a beautiful wedding in Barbados. All the pictures in this post show the “flame tree” and its flamboyant display of flowers. This is what it is known as in Barbados. I always knew it by the name “flamboyant” which its display of flowers truly is. It is also known as Royal Poinciana, Pride-of-Barbados, Barbados Pride, and Peacock Flower. It seems that the name changes according to the part of the world you happen to be in." Pride of Barbados, Caesalpinia pulcherrima is a member of the pea family (Fabaceae). It is referred to by other names including Barbados Flowerfence, Peacock Flower, Mexican Bird of Paradise, Dwarf Flamboyant Caesalpinia, and Dwarf Poinciana. The species name pulcherrima literally means “very pretty” and this plant definitely lives up to the name. 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."

Pride-of-Barbados on Late Blooms

Barbados Flame