The Pride of Barbados is an evergreen shrub or small tree that is a member of the Fabaceae or legume family. It is originally from Mexico and the Caribbean and has beautiful showy orange-red flowers, fern-like leaves, and prickles on its stems and branches. It is the national flower of Barbados.
Culture
Pride of Barbados, Caesalpinia pulcherrima, is a member of the pea family. It is referred to by other names including Barbados Flowerfence, Peacock Flower, Mexican Bird of Paradise, Dwarf Flamboyan, Caesalpinia, and Dwarf Poinciana. Pride-of-Barbados dies to the ground following frost or freezing temperatures, but in zone 8b, it comes back reliable in the middle of spring. Pride of Barbados has incredibly showy blossoms of orange and red. The striking orange-red flowers are an attention grabber. This is a fast growing, but short lived plant. It is moderately tolerant of salty conditions. Caesalpinia pulcherrima flowers benefit from pruning, and can be shaped to tree form or shrubby bush form.
Source
Characteristics
Tropics area gets 15-20′ tall and its ungainly, wide spreading branches can cover about the same width. The cultivation of Caesalpinia pulcherrima in Nigeria is usually a semi-dwarfed hardy or tender-perennial shrub. It grows to a typical size of 5-8′ tall and will grow that large even after freezing to the ground the previous season. The stem, branches and petioles posses sharp spines and the leaves are fernlike and twice compound, with many small, oval leaflets.
Pride of Barbados’ flower lives to suit the name with incredibly showy blossoms of orange and red. The flowers have bowl shaped, 2-3″ across, with five wrinkles, unequal red and orange petals, with ten prominent bright red stamens that extend way beyond the corolla. Even when not in bloom, the foliage of Pride of Barbados is interesting, offering soft textured very finely divided, broad, bipinnately compound leaves 8 to 15 in. long.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Garden Uses
Specimen plant or in a mixed shrub border