Larry Schokman, The Kampong - Hillsborough County

EXPANDING YOUR PLANT PALETTE
15 TROPICAL & SUBTROPICAL
FLOWERING TREES
Brownea grandiceps
Rose of Venezuela
Fabaceae
• Native to Venezuela.
• Zones: 9-12
• Height: 20-25’ in S. Florida. Slowgrowing.
• Flowers: In summer. Short
stamens, tightly packed.
– Color: flame red.
• Propagation: Seed or grafting.
• Light: Humid shade. Likes organic
soil.
• General info: Named for Dr. Patrick
Browne, an Irish MD and naturalist,
who wrote the Natural History of
Jamaica in 1756.
Bombax ceiba
Red silk cotton tree, Red kapok
Malvaceae
(formerly Bombacaceae)
•
•
•
•
Native to Trop. Asia, S. China.
Zones: 10-12
Height: Up to 80’
Flowers: Winter to early spring
when tree is leafless –
accentuating bloom. 6-9” wide
with flashy petals.
– Color: from bright red, orange to
golden yellow. Short-lived but
contain heavy nectar.
• Propagation: Seeds, cuttings.
• Light: Full sun.
• General info: Fine silky hairs
attached to seeds used for filling
cushions and pillows.
Bulnesia arborea
Vera wood
Zygophyllaceae
• Native to Colombia, Venezuela.
• Zones: 10-12
• Height: In Florida up to 40-45’.
Slow-growing.
• Flowers: Showy golden yellow, with
clawed petals. Up to 2” diameter.
Terminal panicles. Flowers 2-4 times
in summer/fall.
• Propagation: Seed. Scarify seeds ,
peel off red sarcotesta, and soak in
water for about 24 hrs. prior to
planting. Keep seeds moist during
germination.
• Light: Full sun.
• General info: Elegant tree with
spreading crown and cascading
branches. Xeric, pest-free. Underutilized. Close relative to Lignum
vitae, but has twice as any leaflets
as Guaiacum species.
Cassia bakeriana
Pink cassia
Fabaceae
•
•
•
•
Native to Myanmar.
Zones: 10-12
Height: Up to 30’
Flowers: deep pink, prolific
spring bloomer.
– Compares favorably with
C. Javanica.
• Propagation: Seed. Soak and
scarify before planting.
• Light: Full sun.
• General info: Relatively new
introduction to S. Florida by
Tropical Flowering Tree
Society. Seeds from
Myanmar and Thailand.
Ceiba speciosa cv. Pink princess
(Syn. Chorisia speciosa)
Silk floss tree
• Native to Peru, Bolivia,
S.E. Brazil.
• Zones: 10-12
• Height: 50’+
• Flowers: Primarily fall.
– Colors: Pink to red.
• Propagation: Seed, grafting.
• Light: Full sun.
Note: cv. Pink Princess has been
• General info: Previously
selectively pruned to a height of 18-20’
Bombacaceae–now
and 40’ wide. This technique helps
Malvaceae. Many hybrids
reduce its center of gravity—making it
available. Most bloom while
less susceptible to hurricane damage.
tree is leafless.
Ceiba speciosa
c.v. Pink princess
Papa!
Mama!
Ceiba chodatii cv. Sunset
(Syn. Chorisia chodatii)
Pochote
Malvaceae
Ceiba speciosa
cv. Sugarloaf
Ceiba sp.
A Kampong hybrid planted
along I-95 in Miami.
Note graft union on trunk.
Malvaceae
Ceiba spp.
Kampong hybrids
Colvillea racemosa
Colville'
s glory
Fabaceae
•
•
•
•
Native to Madagascar.
Zones: 10-12
Height: Up to 50’
Flowers: Iridescent orange in erect,
long-stemmed clusters. They have
deep scarlet sepals and pale orange
petals filled with golden stamens.
• Propagation: Seeds, grafting. At
The Kampong C. racemosa grafted
onto D. regia. A successful intergeneric graft.
• Light: Full sun.
• General info: Named after Sir Charles
Colville, Governor of Mauritius circa
1850. A single species in this genus.
Cordia boissieri
White cordia, Anacahuita
Boraginaceae
•
•
•
•
Native from Texas to Mexico.
Zones: 8-11
Height: 20-25’
Flowers: Chalky white, funnelshaped with luminous yellow
throats. Prolific. Flowers all year.
• Propagation: Seed and cuttings.
• Light: Full sun.
• General info: Can withstand
temps of 28°F. Drought and
fairly salt resistant. Ideal for
small gardens and the Keys.
Xeric.
Delonix regia
Royal poinciana
Fabaceae
Propagation: Seeds need to be
scarified and soaked before
planting.
Light: Full sun.
• Native to Madagascar.
• Zones: 10-12
• Height: Up to 40’. Usually
wider than they are high.
Typically mushroom-shaped.
• Flowers: From fire-engine
red to pink, pumpkin, orange,
yellow and canary yellow.
From June to September and
even October.
D. regia
Royal poinciana
Fabaceae
General info: Discovered by the Dutch botanist
Bojer in1824 and named after DePonci, a French
Governor of the Antilles. Like most flowering
trees—once established, do not irrigate. Therefore an ideal xeriscape plant that grows in most
tropical and warm subtropical areas.
In Miami, the Royal Poinciana
Fiesta celebrated its 72nd anniversary in 2009. It is the longestrunning festival in S. Florida.
D. regia cv. Lucia yellow
From Puerto Rico
D. regia cv. Smathers yellow
From USDA via Kenya
D. regia cv. Kampong yellow
Scion from Guyana
Jacaranda cuspidifolia
Jacaranda
• Native from S. Brazil to
N. Argentina.
• Zones: 9-11
• Height: Up to 35’
• Flowers: Sporadically, warm
months, all year. Inflorescence
and leaves more than twice the
size of J. mimosifolia.
Trumpet-shaped, blue-violet
color.
• Propagation: Seed and grafting.
• Light : Full sun.
• General info: Starts blooming in
3-5 years. Does well on US-1
median in Perrine, with no
irrigation.
Magnolia champaca
(Syn. Michelia champaca)
Champac
Magnoliaceae
•
•
•
•
Native to S.E Asia, India, S. China
Zones: 9-12
Height: 25-40’ in S. Florida.
Flowers: Yellow, orange. Very fragrant.
In the warm months.
M. champaca
• Propagation: M. champaca – seeds.
Magnolia x alba – misted cuttings because
seeds of this hybrid usually infertile.
• Light: Full sun.
• General info: Flowers yield Champac
perfume, or Joy. Held in special reverence by
Hindus. Usually planted around Buddhist,
Hindu, and Jain temples.
Magnolia x alba
(M. champaca x M. montana)
Pseudobombax ellipticum
Shaving brush tree
Malvaceae
•
•
•
•
P. ellipticum Album
Native to Mexico & C.America.
Zones: 9-12
Height: Up to 35’. Deciduous.
Flowers: In spring, when tree is
leafless. Cigar-shaped buds literally
explode with a distinct pop in the
evening. The petals curl back tightly
and expose the spectacular shaving
brush-like mass of silky, crimson
stamens.
• Flowers last one day and carpet the
ground with iridescent color. Flowering
continues for a month or so, after
which the new magenta-red translucent
foliage bursts forth. Birds attracted to
calyx cup that is full of nectar.
Saraca indica
Ashok, Sorrowless tree
Fabaceae
• Native to S.E. Asia, Indonesia
(Java).
• Zones: 10-12. Young trees cold
sensitive.
• Height: Up to 40’ in S. Florida.
• Flowers: Cauliflorous. Showy,
yellow-orange that have no
petals—only whiskery stamens.
Mostly males and a few bisexuals,
therefore only a few seedpods,
General info: Both Hindus and Buddhists which are dark red. Fragrant at
night. Blooms winter, spring.
revere this tree. Hindus dedicate it to
Kama—The god of erotic love—because• Propagation: Seeds. Needs moist
organic soil.
the flowers supposedly arouse an innersensuality. Butterfly and hummingbird • Light: Full sun to bright filtered
light.
attractant.
Syzygium malaccense
Malay apple
Myrtaceae
• Native to Malay peninsula, Java,
Sumatra.
• Zones: 10-12
• Height: 20-50’
• Flowers: Vibrant magenta, with
numerous stamens. Spring
bloomer—prolific but ephemeral.
Ground carpeted by crimson
bloom. Tree is the most flamboyant
of this genera.
• Propagation: Seeds and grafting.
• Light: Full sun.
• General info: Closely
related to the genus
Eugenia. Syzygium is
confined to the “Old World,”
while Eugenia is confined
to the New World.
• Crimson pear-shaped fruit
ripens in late summer and
has a translucent acidsweet crunchy flesh—hence
the comparison to an apple.
• Introduced to Jamaica in
1793 by Captain Bligh (with
breadfruit), as an
inexpensive food for slaves.
This family (Myrtaceae) is
high in antioxidants.
Tabebuia impetiginosa cv. Kampong
(Syn. T. avellanedae)
Pink trumpet tree, Ipê, Toledo
Bignoniaceae
• Native from tropical Mexico
to Argentina.
• Zones: 8-11
• Height: 35’
• Flowers: Funnel-shaped,
purple to dark pink flowers
with yellow throat. A highelevation species that does
well in S. Florida and was not
affected by recent extra
cold/long winter.
• Propagation: Grafting
preferred for best cultivars.
Tabebuia impetiginosa
Ipê
Bignoniaceae
• Light: Full sun.
• General info: One of the
most spectacular flowering
trees of the world. Easy to
grow, drought-resistant and
bug free! Under-utilized.
Xeric.
Triplaris cumingiana
Long john, Ant tree, Volador
Polygonaceae
•
•
•
•
Native Panama to N. Peru.
Zones: 9-12
Height: 60-70’
Flowers: Dioecious. Only female trees
produce the showy magenta (or white)
flowers that have the 3-winged calyx
that looks like a tiny shuttlecock
(volador). This enables seed dispersion
as they parachute to the ground.
• Propagation: Seed or grafting.
• Light: Full sun.
• General info: Menninger (Flowering
Trees of the World) calls it one of the
“spectacular sights of nature” when in
bloom. Can tolerate up to 28-29°F for
short periods. Unaffected by recent cold
spell.