Spathodea

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Fountain Tree
Flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Subclass: Asteridae (unranked) Euasterids I Order: Lamiales Family: Bignoniaceae Tribe: Tecomeae Genus: Spathodea Species: S. campanulata
Binomial name
Spathodea campanulata P.Beauv.

Spathodea is a monotypic genus in the flowering plant family Bignoniaceae. The single species is Spathodea campanulata, known as the Fountain Tree, "African tulip tree", Flame-of-the-forest or Nandi Flame. It is a tree that grows between 7-25 m tall, native to tropical Africa. This tree is planted extensively as an ornamental tree throughout the tropics and is much appreciated for its very showy reddish-orange or crimson (rarely yellow), campanulate flowers. It has the potential to become an invasive species though.

The flower bud is ampule-shaped and contains water. These buds are often used by children who play with its ability to squirt the water. The sap sometimes stains yellow on fingers and clothes. The open flowers are cup-shaped and holds rain and dew, making them attractive to many species of birds. In Neotropical gardens and parks, their nectar is popular with many hummingbirds, such as the Black-throated Mango (Anthracothorax nigricollis), the Black Jacobin (Florisuga fusca), or the Gilded Hummingbird (Hylocharis chrysura)^[1]. The wood of the tree is soft and is used for nesting by many hole-building birds such as barbets.

The generic name comes from the Ancient Greek word spathe (σφατηε), in reference to the spadix-like calyx.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Baza Mendonça, Luciana & dos Anjos, Luiz (2005): Beija-flores (Aves, Trochilidae) e seus recursos florais em uma área urbana do Sul do Brasil [Hummingbirds (Aves, Trochilidae) and their flowers in an urban area of southern Brazil]. [Portuguese with English abstract] Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 22(1): 51–59. doi:10.1590/S0101-81752005000100007 PDF fulltext

[edit] Gallery

fruit in Hyderabad, India.	Tree at Kolkata, West Bengal, India	Bark	Flower & leaves at Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Bark at Kolkata, West Bengal, India	Habitus	Leaves and flowers	Flowers and buds
Seed