NAME: Delonix regia

FAMILY NAME: Leguminosae

COMMON NAMES: Flame of the forest, Red Flame, Phoenix tree, Royal Poinciana, Flame Tree, Poinciana, Flamboyant Tree

LOCAL NAMES: Seke seke, ayin.

MORPHOLOGY: Delonix regia is a conspicuous, fast growing almost evergreen legume tree that can be 10-30 m in height and is shallow-rooted. Tree can shed its leaves in areas with a marked dry season. The bole is sometimes relatively short. The trunk may reach 2 m in girth and it can be buttressed towards the base. The bark is smooth, sometimes slightly cracked, with lenticels. The crown is umbrella-shaped, broadly spreading its long horizontal branches. The overall tree is thus larger in diameter than in height. The twigs are stout, greenish, finely hairy when young becoming brown. The leaves are bipinnate, alternate, feathery, 20-60 cm long, bearing 10-25 pairs of pinnae, each with 30-60 opposite leaflets. The leaflets are 0.5-1 cm long, stalkless, minutely hairy on both sides. The inflorescences are slightly fragrant corymbs borne laterally at the end of the twigs. The inflorescence bears large (5-13 cm), magnificent flowers, orange-red in colour, loosely arranged on 5-7.5 cm long stalks. The 4 clawed-petals are spoon-like in shape and the 5 sepals are thick, green in color, finely hairy. The fruit is a 30-75 cm long pod, It is green and flaccid when young, turning to brown and woody at maturity. The pods remain on the tree after it has shed its leaves. The 30-45 seeds contained in the pods are hard, greyish, mottled, oblong in shape, looking like date pits. They are hardcoated. The taxon name Delonix regia is after the greek "delos" meaning visible and "onyx" meaning claw and the latin "regia" meaning royal, magnificent. Most of the common names for Delonix regia (see Common names) are derived from the colour of its flowers

PART(S): Leaves, bark, seeds, flowers

GENERAL USES: It is an outstanding flowering tree for gardens, parks, along streets, and for large front yards. Mature trees provide excellent shade

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Madagascar, Isreal, USA, Mauritus, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Cyprus, Spain Lebenon, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, China, Australia, Taiwan

WHY IS IT GREEN: Diuretic, anthelmintics, astringent, leucorrhoea

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The leaves and flowers have been reported to have herbicide effects on Mikania micrantha, an invasive climber. The wood ash of Delonix regia could significantly reduce several fungi and insects.

It serves as shade tree, Delonix regia is helpful in maintaining soil moisture and reducing soil temperature. Flamboyants have been planted on eroded sites for erosion control, and for soil rehabilitation

The flamboyant is a N-fixing legume that can improve soil N status. Leaf and green stem prunings applied to a calcareous soil for 5 years resulted in improvement of 13% in N and higher organic C and mineralization

FUN FACT: The tree has been known to collapse without warning.

There is a popular belief among Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala that when Jesus was crucified, there was a small royal poinciana tree nearby his Cross. It is believed that the blood of Jesus Christ was shed over the flowers of the tree and this is how the flowers of royal poinciana got a sharp red color.