Peacock Flower, Barbados Pride - Caesalpinia pulcherrima

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Picture courtesy Green Acres Nursery CaliforniaPicture courtesy Green Acres Nursery CaliforniaThis plant is not freely available in South Africa anymore because it only grows in frost-free regions and is considered invasive in many tropical regions of the world. I have included it in my plant index for identification purposes as many old gardens still have it growing.

Click here to see its status on the SANBI Red List of South African Plants

I suggest you try something else like (Bauhinia galpinii) Pride-of-De-Kaap, Vlam-van-die-vlakte, which you can prune to keep smaller.

Southern Africa has 10 species of Caesalpinia of which 4 have been introduced and are invasive (Germishuizen 2001). The other 6 are indigenous to southern Africa (C. bonduc, C. bracteata, C. merxmuellerana, C. pearsonii, C. rostrata and C. rubra). The last four are confined to dry regions of Namibia. The Mauritius thorn (Caesalpinia decapetala), bird-of-paradise (C. gilliesii), C. pulcherrina and C. spinosa are invasive (Henderson 2001). Probably the best known is the bird-of-paradise (C. gilliesii), which is common in the Northern Cape.

The Peacock flower is believed to be native to the West Indies and tropical America. It is widely cultivated and has escaped cultivation and become established in tropical regions throughout the world.

It is grown for its incredibly showy spikes of orange-scarlet flowers that bloom for most of the year in the tropics. The stem and branches are armed with sharp spines and the leaves are fernlike, with many small, oval leaflets. The fruit is a pod 6 to 12 cm long and when ripe, they split open noisily to expose the little brown beans.

This popular ornamental plant is widely grown in tropical gardens and is the national flower of the Caribbean island of Barbados. It is commonly planted in public gardens as a specimen plant or in the mixed border. It has an open, spreading habit and the branches sometimes get too long for their own good and break off. Still, a line of peacock flowers makes a showy fine-textured screen or informal hedge that will attract butterflies to your garden. Don't plant this sharply thorny shrub near pedestrian traffic.

The Peacock Flower is a semi-evergreen shrub that is tender to frost and only grows well in the warmly temperate and sub-tropical regions of South Africa. It will grow very quickly to 2 to 3m tall and spread up to 2m wide. The Peacock flower is very easy to grow in alkaline to acidic, well-drained soils. It will tolerate light shade but flowers best in full sun. Feed with a balanced organic fertiliser about 4 times a year and although it is relatively drought hardy once established, it will do best if it is watered regularly during dry spells, especially when it is flowering. The Peacock Flower will benefit from pruning and is often cut back to ground level in late winter and early spring. It can be shaped into a small tree or bushy shrub.

Additional Info

  • Common Name: Peacock Flower, Barbados Pride
  • Latin Name: Caesalpinia pulcherrima