Delonix regia (Hook.) Rafin.
പൂമരം


Family: LEGUMINOSAE
Sub-Family: Caesalpinioideae
English Name: Gulmohar
Synonym: Poinciana regia Hook.
Common Name: Royal poinciana, Flame tree
Flowering & Fruiting Period: February - July
Distribution: Native of Madagascar; now cultivated throughout the tropics
Habitat: Planted as ornamental tree
Uses: Ornamental. A leaf decoction presumably has anti-rheumatic effects. In eastern Nigeria the leaves are used traditionally for treating pain.
Key Characteristics: Gulmohar are trees with leaves bi-pinnate, alternate; rachis, pulvinate; pinnae 8-20 pairs, opposite; leaflet lamina oblong, margin entire. Flowers bisexual, crimson, in terminal or lateral corymbose panicles; calyx tube very short; lobes 5, valvate; petals 5, imbricate; margins fimbriate; upper petal dissimilar and white streaked with red and yellow; stamens 10, free; ovary half inferior, ovules many; style filiform; stigma truncate. Fruit a pod, woody.