Flame tree

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Flame tree
Flame tree (Delonix regia)

Flame tree ( Delonix regia )

Systematics
Order : Fabales (Fabales)
Family : Legumes (Fabaceae)
Subfamily : Carob family (Caesalpinioideae)
Tribe : Caesalpinieae
Genre : Delonix
Type : Flame tree
Scientific name
Delonix regia
( Bojer ex Hook. ) Raf.

The flame tree ( Delonix regia ) is a plant of the subfamily caesalpinioideae (Caesalpinioideae) within the family of the Leguminosae (Fabaceae). It is also called flamboyant, as are many other types of the carob family. Its original home is Madagascar . It is used as an ornamental plant in the tropics and subtropics .

Description and ecology

bark
Stalked double-pinnate leaves
Illustration from Blanco
Approximately 35 centimeters long, lignified legume
Pinnate leaves and inflorescence
Flower with sepals curved downwards and four red petals and a yellow-red upper petal

Appearance, bark and leaf

The flame tree grows as a tree with a spreading crown, the stature heights of 12 to 17, rarely reaches up to 20 meters. It is deciduous in cooler, subtropical areas and largely evergreen in tropical areas ; it is not frost hardy . The grayish-brown bark is initially relatively smooth and later rough. It is a widely spread with diameters of 6 to 20 feet, hemispherical canopy formed. Numerous branches are formed. The bark of the twigs is slightly downy and hairy and has clearly visible lenticels .

The alternate leaves arranged on the branches are divided into petioles and leaf blades and are 15 to 60 centimeters long. The bald to downy hairy petiole is 2 to 4 or 7 to 12 centimeters long, furrowed and thickened at its base. The double-pair pinnate leaf blade consists of 7 to 20 pairs of 2 to 10 centimeters long first-order pinnate, with 10 to 30 pairs of leaflets each. The short-stalked leaflets are 5 to 10 mm long and 2 to 4 mm wide, elliptical to oblong with a sloping lower end and a blunt upper end. The leaflets are initially hairy, especially on the smooth edges and the clearly recognizable central nerve. The underside of the leaflets is lighter than the top. The stipules are distinctly pinnate in the lower area and bristle-shaped in the upper area.

Inflorescence and flower

The heyday in Pakistan is in the summer months; in China the flowering period extends from June to July; in Australia the main flowering season is between late November and February with a peak in December and a second flowering until May. In a terminal or lateral, racemose inflorescence , several flowers are loosely together. The small bracts fall off early. The flower stalk is 4 to 10 inches long.

The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and five-fold with a double flower envelope . The flower base is disc-shaped to briefly top-shaped. The five sepals are obovate and have a length of 2 to 2.5 inches long and blood-red inside and greenish-yellow on the edges. The corolla has a diameter of 7 to 10 centimeters. The five more or less unequal, about 2 mm long slenderly nailed, free petals are spatulate with a length of 5 to 7 centimeters and a width of 3.7 to 4 centimeters and bent back during the anthesis . Four of the petals are bright red. A petal (the flag) is a bit larger with a width of about 5 centimeters and white or yellow with red. The ten unequal, free stamens are 3 to 7 centimeters long and therefore at most as long as the petals. The thick, scarlet stamens are woolly hairy in the lower area and curved upwards. The red anthers are about 5 mm long. The single carpel is about 1.3 cm long and contains many ovules . The thin stylus ends in a small scar.

The pollination is carried by birds ( ornithophily ).

Fruit and seeds

Flame tree with ripe legumes in Namibia

With a length of 30 to 60 centimeters and a width of 3 to 5 centimeters, the relatively large, flattened, relatively thick, slightly curved legumes lignify, have the durable stylus at the top and each contain 20 to 40 seeds. The initially green legumes first turn reddish-brown and then blackish-brown as they ripen. The yellowish and brown spotted, smooth and hard seeds are elongated-elliptical in outline with a length of about 15 mm and a width of about 7 mm. The fruits ripen in China between August and October.

The seeds often germinate close to the parent specimens and so often dense stands are formed, this is sometimes promoted by allelopathy . The legumes can be spread out during floods.

Chromosome number

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 28.

Occurrence, endangerment and invasive plant

Flame trees in East Timor

The natural home of Delonix regia is only in western and northern Madagascar . It occurs only in the provinces of Antsiranana and Mahajanga . It thrives in forests in sub- humid to dry climates.

In the IUCN Red List of Endangered Plant Species , Delonix regia was rated in 1997 as "vulnerable" = "endangered". The most important natural sub-populations are located around Antsiranana in areas that are endangered by charcoal production .

The dense, sweeping treetops lead to the displacement of indigenous species . Some reports on Delonix regia as an invasive plant : On the Galápagos Islands there are stocks in the dry lowlands and wet highlands. In Hawaii , Delonix regia is occasionally overgrown at low altitudes, especially in disturbed locations, at least on the island of Molokai . In Fiji , Delonix regia is rarely overgrown at altitudes between about 0 and 500 meters. It has run wild in New Caledonia ; on the Christmas Islands it forms pure stocks around parent specimens, especially on disturbed remains of rainforests and on roadsides, and is very competitive with the native vegetation there. In Australia's Northern Territory , it is an invasive plant in the coastal monsoon thickets that have been damaged by cyclones . In tropical areas of Australia Delonix regia is overgrown in some watercourses. Sandy, loamy, clayey, acidic to basic soils are tolerated.

The flame tree is also represented at Wilhelma in Stuttgart.

Taxonomy

This species was discovered near Foule Point in Madagascar by Wenceslas Bojer . The first description was in 1829 by Wenceslas Bojer under the name ( Basionym ) Poinciana regia Bojer ex Hook. in William Jackson Hooker : Botanical Magazine , Volume 56, Plate 2884. With this species as type species Delonix regia (Bojer ex Hook.) Raf. was the genus Delonix Raf in 1836 . Established by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz in Flora Telluriana , Volume 2, p. 92. Other synonyms for Delonix regia (Bojer ex Hook.) Raf. are: Delonix regia var. flavida Stehlé , Delonix regia var. genuina Stehlé .

Flame tree ( Delonix regia ) as an avenue tree and shade tree

use

The fast-growing flame tree is used throughout the tropics and subtropics as an ornamental wood in gardens, parks and avenues. It's a good shade tree. There are some varieties with different flower colors, for example. The propagation takes place via seeds (not true to the variety) or cuttings. Seedlings need 10 years or more to mature . The rapidly growing roots very often damage the surface of paths and roads. The flame tree thrives in USDA climate zones 10 to 12, it is not frost hardy and cannot tolerate air temperatures below about 7 ° C. A sunny location protected from strong winds is recommended.

Plant parts of the flame tree were used in folk medicine against anemia , fever and malaria .

The wood is light, soft and elastic, with special wood fibers. It is used as a craft.

Common names in other languages

Because they are widely used as ornamental plants, there are many common names in other languages:

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Gordon Cheers (Ed.): Botanica. The ABC of plants. 10,000 species in text and images . Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft, 2003, ISBN 3-8331-1600-5 (therein page 293).
  2. ↑ a b c d e Don Burke: The Complete Burke's Backyard: The Ultimate Book of Fact Sheets . Murdoch Books, 2005, ISBN 1-74045-739-0 (therein page 269). google-books-online
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m B. Wiecek: Delonix regia at New South Wales Flora Online . Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h Syed Irtifaq Ali: Caesalpiniaceae : Delonix regia , In: Flora of Pakistan , Volume 54.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Dezhao Chen, Dianxiang Zhang, Kai Larsen & Supee Saksuwan Larsen: Delonix : Delonix regia - the same text online as the printed work , In: Wu Zheng- yi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Eds.): Flora of China , Volume 10 - Fabaceae , Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis 2010. ISBN 978-1-930723-91-7
  6. ↑ a b Entry at Arkive . ( Memento of the original from February 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. last accessed on March 7, 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.arkive.org
  7. ↑ a b c Entry at Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk = PIER. last accessed on March 7, 2013
  8. ^ Delonix regia at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  9. ↑ a b Delonix regia in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: D. Du Puy et al, 1997. Accessed March 6, 2013..
  10. ^ A b c d Delonix regia in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  11. ^ Delonix regia in Madagascar Catalog . Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  12. ↑ First publication scanned at biodiversitylibrary.org .
  13. ↑ New combination scanned at biodiversitylibrary.org .
  14. ↑ a b Delonix regia at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed March 5, 2013.
  15. ↑ Entry at Australian Plant Name Index = APNI. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  16. ↑ a b c d e Delonix regia Common Names: royal poinciana, flamboyant tree, flame tree, peacock flower Family: Fabaceae / Leguminosae (bean Family) - Profile at Floridata . last accessed on March 7, 2013
  17. ↑ Entry with Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases . ( Memento of the original from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. last accessed on March 6, 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ars-grin.gov

Web links

Commons : Flammenbaum ( Delonix regia )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files