General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Shrub
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 9a -6.7 °C (20 °F) to -3.9 °C (25 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 11
Plant Height: 3-10 feet
Plant Spread: 3-10 feet
Leaves: Deciduous
Fruit: Other: 3 inch to 4 inch long flat pod that noisily splits open exposing small brown pea like seeds.
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Orange
White
Other: Reddish-orange and yellow
Bloom Size: 1"-2"
Flower Time: Late summer or early fall
Fall
Underground structures: Taproot
Uses: Medicinal Herb
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Birds
Butterflies
Resistances: Humidity tolerant
Drought tolerant
Toxicity: Leaves are poisonous
Fruit is poisonous
Other: The fruit is poisonous raw; however, people in Central Africa presumably eat the seeds after boiling in several changes of water.
Propagation: Seeds: Scarify seeds
Days to germinate: 10-35
Other info: Under optimum conditions and climate it will self-sow and may even become weedy.
Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger
Needs excellent drainage in pots
Miscellaneous: With thorns/spines/prickles/teeth
Awards and Recognitions: Texas Superstar®
RHS AGM
Other: National Flower of Barbados
Conservation status: Least Concern (LC)

Conservation status:
Conservation status: Least Concern
Image
Common names
  • Pride of Barbados
  • Red Bird of Paradise
  • Dwarf Poinciana
  • Mexican Bird of Paradise
  • Peacock Flower
  • Flamboyan-de-Jardin
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Caesalpinia pulcherrima
  • Synonym: Caesalpinia pulcherrima f. flava
  • Synonym: Caesalpinia pulcherrima var. flava

Photo Gallery
Location: BF House, west of St Louis.
Date: 2009-03-14
Paper Kite Butterfly
Location: My garden
Date: 2016-05-31
Location: Southwest Florida
Date: October 2015
Photo by dave
Location: Canoga Park, California
Date: 2015-07-14
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Date: 2011-07-07
I've known this plant as Mexican Bird of Paradise or Red Bird of
Location: Dallas,Texas
Date: 2020-12-16
Location: Colima, Colima Mexico (USDA Zone 11)
Date: 2015-08-30
Pride of Barbados (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) bloom
Location: My Garden
Date: 2019-06-25
Location: Zone 9 Louisiana in my backyard
Date: 2018-08-16
Blooms just starting to open
Location:  North latitude    GPS Latitude              16, 1' 40.202" East longitude    GPS Longitude             80, 13' 53.124"
Date: 2007-10-28
Location: Parchur, Andhra Pradesh, India
Date: 2024-01-08
Location: my garden, Sarasota FL
Date: 2014-08-23
Location: Coastal San Diego County 
Date: 2018-08-21
Location: Odessa, FL
Date: 2012-06-10
The flowers of this plant are very showy
Location: Washington 8b
Date: 2020-10-12
Location: Kyle, Texas
Date: 2017-08-25
Dies to the ground each winter but comes roaring back!
Location: my garden, Sarasota FL
Date: 2020-08-27

Date: Summer
Great combination with native lantana (horida)
Location: My garden
Date: 2018-07-16
Location: Austin ,TX
Date: 2013-02-21
Location: Summeville, SC
Caesalpinia pulcherrima
Location: My garden
Date: 2020-06-17
Location: Zone 9 Louisiana in my backyard
Date: 2018-08-19
Beautiful in full bloom
Location: La Fortuna, Costa Rica | Old Photo
Date: 2022-12-21
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2013-08-09
Updated photo
Location: Canoga Park, California
Date: 2013-08-21
Location: my garden 
Date: 2015-10-16
Location: Kyle
Date: 2018-06-28
blooms and forms seed pods right off!
Location: Kyle, TX
Date: 2021-06-19
So lovely, so easy, so reliable
Location: Paraty, Brazil
Date: 2015-01-06
Location: BF House, west of St Louis
Date: 2009-03-14
Location: The club
Location: Canoga Park, California
Date: 2012-10-15
Location: Canoga Park, California
Date: 2012-10-15
Location: Austin, TexS
Date: 2023-09-11
Location: all photos from my garden
Date: 2014-07-21
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Date: 2017-10-05
Red Bird of Paradise Flower in morning sunlight
Location: La Fortuna, Costa Rica | Old Photo
Date: 2022-12-21
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2013-02-20
Two week old seedlings
Photo by aocain
Location: The club
Location: South Texas- Zone 9
Date: 2022-05-22
Location: Pinellas Park,FL
Date: 2012-08-24
2 month old seedling
Location: my garden, Sarasota FL
Date: 2014-09-15
Beautiful flowers open red with a yellow edge and mature to plain
Location: Blondmyk's Backyard, Corpus Christi, TX
Date: 2014-10-13
Had only one pod and I had thought that a bad storm had washed th
Location: Desert Demonstration Garden in Las Vegas.
Date: October
photo by Stan Shebs
Location: Pinellas Park, Florida
Date: 2011-07-15
Location: Austin ,TX
Date: August
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Paraty, SE Brazil
Date: 2017-01-13
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Paraty, SE Brazil
Date: 2017-02-26
Location: South Bella Vista Drive, Tucson, AZ
Date: 2020-09-28
My baby red bird-of-paradise bushes (Paradisaea rubra, also cendr
Location: central Illinois
Date: 2017-12-09
pod exploded, made me jump right outta my chair!   (pod from Hous
Location: Canoga Park, California
Date: 2012-10-15
Young leaf
Location: Pinellas Park,FL
Date: 2012-09-11
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2014-08-22
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2014-08-22
Location: Edinburg, Texas | June, 2023
Date: 2023-06-10
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Date: Sep 2012
Came up from nowhere in my daughters back yard.
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Date: Sep 2012
Location: Paraty, Brazil
Date: 2015-01-06
Location: Houston
Date: 2017-11-22
Location: Houston
Date: 2017-11-22
Location: Houston
Date: 2017-11-22

Date: 2009-02-27
USDA
Location: my garden
Photo by Bubbles
Photo by Bubbles
Location: Youngsville, LA
Date: 2013-09-30
By tabbycat
Location: Pinellas Park,FL
Date: 2012-09-11
Location: my garden 
Date: 2017-07-20
First buds
Location: Southwest Florida
Date: May 2012
Location: Southwest Florida
Date: December 2015
these are seedpods from the yellow variety
Location: my garden
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2015-11-11
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2013-06-22
Updated June 2013
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2013-04-01
 little over 2 months old
This plant is tagged in:
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Comments:
  • Posted by plantladylin (Sebastian, Florida - Zone 10a) on Aug 22, 2014 10:36 AM concerning plant:
    Caesalpinia pulcherrima is an evergreen shrub in frost-free climates, but it loses its leaves here in my zone 9 Florida garden when the temperatures drop below 50ºF. It is considered a returning perennial in zone 8b, re-sprouting from the roots after winter frosts or freezes. Those who live in colder zones can grow it as an annual or as a houseplant to be moved to a greenhouse or indoors during the winter months if one has the space.

    Pride of Barbados does best in a full sun location and it is drought tolerant. In tropical climates this plant will attain heights and widths of 15 to 20 feet, but when branches get long they tend to break easily. In cultivation, 6-8 feet seems to be the norm for Pride of Barbados. It can be pruned to keep it at a manageable size. I saw one planted in front of someone's home here in my area that was kept pruned to about 4 feet, and even though small in stature, it was an attention getter when in full bloom.

    This plant has escaped cultivation and has become established in the southern part of the state of Florida.
  • Posted by tabbycat (Youngsville, LA - Zone 9b) on Oct 20, 2018 9:03 PM concerning plant:
    I got seeds 2 years ago from Esperanza in a swap here. They grew well the 1st summer but stayed small. This summer the 4 plants got 2 ft. tall in gallon pots. I put the largest in the ground in a full-sun bed and it grew to 3 ft. tall and made its first exotic red and orange flowers by mid summer. In Sept it set 2 seeds that dried on the plant, and I just removed them Oct. 15. These are supposed to be the dwarf variety, but I also have a plant I started from a seed from St. John in the Virgin Islands that is the full-sized tree variety. We are zone 9, so I don't know that it will become a tree in our 30* average lows.
  • Posted by robertduval14 (Milford, New Hampshire - Zone 5b) on Sep 19, 2016 10:48 PM concerning plant:
    National flower of Barbados.
  • Posted by eclayne (Pioneer Valley south, MA, USA - Zone 6a) on Feb 1, 2013 2:45 PM concerning plant:
    An evergreen shrub, leaf loss or damage may occur as temperatures dip below 50F (10C). Grow as a die back perennial in hardiness zone 9 and possibly 8b.
  • Posted by ricelg (Hill Country TX - Zone 8b) on Jul 27, 2017 5:39 PM concerning plant:
    Received this plant last year with pending blooms and it did fine in direct sun and Texas heat. Unfortunately, the hard freeze killed it and I had to replace with 2 smaller ones this year in the same spot. Worse, these have not yet bloomed at all...and my wife is very envious of others' prolific blooming.
  • Posted by ricelg (Hill Country TX - Zone 8b) on May 14, 2017 9:09 PM concerning plant:
    This plant grew pretty rapidly for me. However, I've had a lot of difficulty getting this to germinate from seed. Scarification is a must.
  • Posted by tabbycat (Youngsville, LA - Zone 9b) on Feb 28, 2020 5:22 PM concerning plant:
    I ordered 3 plants of the PINK flowered ones in Dec. 2019 from typicaltoed on Etsy. They arrived 12-7-19 from Fla. as 8" nice healthy plants. I will repot each in gallon pots on my patio & hope for flowers Summer 2020. My red variety plants have done beautifully planted out in the yard here in zone 9 south Louisiana. They die back a little in freezes that are few here but send out new growth in March. They are beautiful & so tropical looking I just had to have the PINK ones, too.
Plant Events from our members
piksihk On July 4, 2018 Bloomed
piksihk On August 8, 2017 Bloomed
piksihk On April 17, 2016 Transplanted
HW round bed
piksihk On September 12, 2015 Obtained plant
LynneHtx
MrsBinWY On January 3, 2019 Seeds germinated
2 showing their radical
MrsBinWY On December 25, 2018 Seeds sown
4+1 seeds from monetwwqi; chip, soak 48 hours, paper towel in baggie until radical emerges per https://www.rarepalmseeds.com/...

Seeds on the paper towel looked like they were molding. Put back in water with H2O2 on 1-1-19.
» Post your own event for this plant

Discussion Threads about this plant
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
Excellent by greene Sep 10, 2014 9:58 AM 1
What a picture! by lovesblooms May 31, 2016 1:58 PM 0
wrong pride by jmorth Dec 14, 2017 11:34 AM 2
Photo of Caesalpinia on wrong page? by NMoasis Aug 27, 2020 3:08 PM 2

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