Caesalpinia pulcherrima
(peacock flower)

Preferred Scientific Name

• Caesalpinia pulcherrima (L.) Sw.

Preferred Common Name

• peacock flower

Other Scientific Names

• Poinciana pulcherrima L.

International Common Names

• English: Barbados flowerfence; Barbados-pride; dwarf poinciana; flower-fence; paradise flower; paradise-flower; pride-of-Barbados
• Spanish: caballero; clavellina colorada (Nicaragua); flor borbona (Spain); flor de bona; guacamaya (Spain); tabachin (Honduras)
• French: flamboyant; orgueil de Chine; petit flamboyant
• Chinese: jin feng hua
• Portuguese: flor-de-paraiso

Local Common Names

• Bahamas: Barbados pride
• Cook Islands: ‘ova‘i (Maori); ovai (Maori); pi tiare (Maori)
• Dominican Republic: carzazo; clavellina; macat; macata
• Germany: Zwerg- Poinciane
• Guam: kabayeros
• Haiti: francillade; francillade à fleurs jaunes; francillade à fleurs rouges; francillane; pincillade; poincillade
• Jamaica: pride of Barbados
• Lesser Antilles: baraguette; dwarf poinciana; fleur de paon; flower fence; flower pride; macata; oeillet d'Espagne; Spanish carnation
• Maldives: fa’thangu
• Marshall Islands: emenawa; jeimata; jeimota; jemata
• Micronesia, Federated states of: niikaéeé; rapotin; repawtin; seh muatah; sehmwida; sem tah; semutha; shimatada; simmata; simota; warapig; warepik; waripik
• Nicaragua: malinche
• Niue: fisihetau; fitihetau
• Northern Mariana Islands: kabayeros (Chamorro)
• Puerto Rico: clavellina; doddledo; dul-dul
• Saint Lucia: fle makata
• Samoa: lau pa; lau pa
• Somalia: mallinni
• Suriname: boontje krere krere; sabinabloem
• Tonga: 'ohai; piu

EPPO code

• CAEPU (Caesalpinia pulcherrima)

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Fabales
•                         Family: Fabaceae
•                             Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
•                                 Genus: Caesalpinia
•                                     Species: Caesalpinia pulcherrima

Caesalpinia is a pantropical genus of over 100 species, primarily American (Wagner and Lorence, 2014). The genus was formally named by Linnaeus in 1753 in honor of Andrea Caesalpinio (1524-1603), Italian botanist, philosopher, and physician to Pope Clement VIII, and is based on four species, three of which are now no longer considered to be Caesalpinia sensu strict (Lewis, 1998). The species C. pulcherrima was originally named Poinciana pulcherrima by Linnaeus in 1753, and was moved into its current genus by Swartz. The species name pulcherrima comes from the Latin word ‘pulcher’, meaning beauty.

Shrub to 3-4 m tall, the branches with short scattered prickles. Leaves alternate bipinnate, pinnae 4-8 pairs, each with 7-11 pairs of elliptic, obtuse, obliquely inequilateral light green leaflets about 2-2.5 cm long; flowers red-and-yellow, or (var. flava) all yellow, the petals crinkly-edged, in long terminal racemes; filaments longer than petals, red; pod coriaceous, oblong, smooth, brown to black, to 10 cm long, several-seeded; seeds compressed, brown, usually 6-8 per pod [Stone, 1970].

Shrub or small tree, unarmed or armed with spines or recurved prickles on branches, leaf rachises, and sometimes on nerves. Leaves are bipinnately compound, leaflets opposite or occasionally alternate, stipules various, large and leafy or minute. Flowers are caesalpinaceous, perfect or unisexual, in terminal and/or axillary racemes that are often aggregated into branched paniculate inflorescences, bracts caducous, bracteoles absent; calyx tube short, 5 lobed, lower lobe often covering the others, hood like; petals 5, imbricate, subequal or the upper one smaller and with a more developed claw; stamens 10, distinct, alternately longer and shorter; ovules usually 2-10. Fruit pods are flattened, rarely cylindrical, dehiscent or indehiscent, winged along the upper suture or unwinged. Seeds are 1-9, transversely arranged, ellipsoid or subglobose [Wagner and Lorence, 2014]. In its natural form in North America the species grows as a low branched, full, widespreading shrub about 10 feet tall and wide and requires plenty of room (Gillman and Watson, 2011).

C. pulcherrima is native to Asia and an early introduction to the West Indies (Acevedo-Rodriguez and Strong, 2012), although it is considered native to tropical America by some sources (Smith, 1985; Missouri Botanical Garden, 2014), and by others it is considered an introduction to Asia (Philippines) from tropical America (Merrill, 1923; Alvina and Madulid, 2009).

In the West Indies, the species was certainly in Jamaica by the late seventeenth century. Specimens were collected by Sir Hans Sloane during his voyage to Jamaica in 1687-1689 and brought to London (UK Natural History Museum, 2014). Sloane referred to the species as ‘flower fence of Barbados’, ‘wild Senna’ and ‘Spanish carnation’, and cited Ligon that the species had been carried from the Cape Verde Islands to Barbados before being introduced to Jamaica (Sloane, 1707-1725). Date of introduction to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands is unknown, but it was reportedly ‘already common’ in Puerto Rico by 1881 as reported by Bello (as Poinciana pulcherrima) (Bello Espinosa, 1881).

In South America, the species was already present in Suriname in 1699, as female naturalist Maria Merian illustrated and described its use by the slaves as an emmenagogue and abortifacient (Schiebinger, 2004). It was present in Colombia by 1808; specimens were collected between 1783 and 1808 (JSTOR Global Plants, 2014). In Europe seeds of C. pulcherrima were reportedly being cultivated in France as early as 1822, although considered rare (Die Gesellschaft, 1823). In Africa, the species was observed in Mauritius in 1823 (Die Gesellschaft, 1823), was reported for Sierra Leone, Loanda, and Zanzibar by 1871 (Oliver, 1871), and was present in Ghana by 1935 (Kew collections). In the Pacific, C. pulchirrima was introduced to the Philippines sometime during the Spanish period, 1521-1898 (Alvina and Madulid, 2009) and, while reportedly native to Java, Sumatra, and the Lesser Sunda Islands, is considered to have been introduced to Myanmar, Laos, Singapore, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, and French Polynesia (ILDIS, 2014).

Today C. pulcherrima is widespread across tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, and cultivated worldwide for its large and striking flowers.

Soil drainage

• free

Soil reaction

• acid
• alkaline
• neutral

Soil texture

• heavy
• light
• medium

Special soil tolerances

• saline

C. pulcherrima seeds are dispersed by both natural and intentional introduction. The species is capable of self-dispersal, as its dehiscent pods explode into 2 spiralling valves upon maturity, propelling the seeds away from the plant (Pulle et al., 1976; Puy et al., 2002). It has been intentionally dispersed by humans across tropical regions for both ornamental and agroforestry (living fence) purposes, but it is fast-growing and is known to have escaped cultivation and sometimes naturalized in non-native habitats (Gillman and Watson, 2011; Randall, 2012; Missouri Botanical Garden, 2014). 

C. pulcherrima has been valued as a showy ornamental and as a living barrier fence, resulting in its widespread cultivation pantropically. Although the species was not considered a high risk species of invasiveness (PIER, 2014), it is known to be invasive in parts of Australia, Ecuador, the Philippines and Cuba (Merrill, 1923; Oviedo Prieto et al., 2012; PIER, 2014). C. pulcherrima possesses several traits that could have negative impact on native flora, including a fast growth rate and spread of 10-12 feet per plant (Selvam 2007; Gillman and Watson, 2011), widespread distribution beyond its native range, and reports of pod and seed toxicity (University of Arizona, 2014), seeds that can remain viable for more than a year, and a tolerance for a wide range of soil types (Selvam, 2007; Gillman and Watson, 2011; Floridata, 2014; Missouri Botanical Garden, 2014). More research is needed on the species’ invasiveness and its potential negative impact on the environment.

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Abundant in its native range
• Pioneering in disturbed areas
• Highly mobile locally
• Benefits from human association (i.e. it is a human commensal)
• Fast growing
• Has propagules that can remain viable for more than one year

• Competition - shading
• Poisoning
• Produces spines, thorns or burrs

• Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately

C. pulcherrima has been cultivated primarily as a popular garden ornamental, has often naturalized in the Caribbean (Howard, 1988), and is often seen in cultivation in the Canal Zone and other tropical regions (Flora of Panama, 2014).

The species has also been used in agroforestry, as it has sharp prickles along its stems, leading to the sometimes used common name of Barbados flower fence because of its use in the West Indies as a flowering barrier fence (Missouri Botanical Garden, 2014).

C. pulcherrima has reportedly been used as food; in Mexico and Nicaragua, green seed pods are boiled or cooked and eaten (Flora of Nicaragua, 2014; Missouri Botanical Garden, 2014).

This species has been used in various cultures for medicinal purposes. Ailments treated include gastritis and intestinal inflammation, diarrhoea and dysentery (tea from leaves), flatulence, ulcers and hepatitis (leaves), and uterine dysfunction (bark and flowers), and from some of the earliest documentations of the species in the Amazon, as an emmenagogue and to induce abortions (Schiebinger, 2004). It is a common medicinal herb in Taiwan, and has been used in common remedies for treatment of a number of disorders including pyrexia, menoxenia, wheezing, bronchitis and malarial infection (Chiang et al., 2003). In Pakistan the roots are used for infantile convulsions, the flowers for intestinal worms, coughs and chronic catarrh and the leaves as a purgative and abortifacient  (Flora of Pakistan, 2014). A 2011 study found leaves of the species collected in Malaysia contained antioxidant and antibacterial agents, especially for MRSA infections (Chew et al., 2011).

In Panama, the leaves have been reported as used for fish poison (Flora of Panama, 2014); similarly in Nicaragua, leaves are thrown into the water to stun fish (Flora of Nicaragua, 2014).

C. pulcherrima has also been used for dying cloth, as fruits and roots contain tannins (Flora of Nicaragua, 2014; Missouri Botanical Garden, 2014).