The tiger claw flowers are stunning but last for all too brief a period.

Published On:Tuesday, March 09, 2010

By JACK HARDY

During March, two trees make their presence known by flowering quite spectacularly before sliding back into relative anonymity. The first is pink cassia, a tree that is so undistinguished for most of the year that if one is on your regular car route you may wonder where on earth it had suddenly appeared from.

The pink cassia (Cassia javanica) is a member of the pea family and as such bears the familiar compound leaves we associate with leguminous plants. These leaves are lost during the autumn and winter months so that when the tree flowers, it is all flowers. The leaves grow back while flowering takes place, similar to the leafing/flowering cycle of the royal poinciana, which is related.

March is a weak month for flowering trees and the presence of a pink cassia in full bloom makes it even more outstanding. The light pink flowers tend to smother the branches in an effusive display of plant exuberance. Alas, not for long. Usually four to five weeks later the flowers are fading and the leaves take over.

Pink cassia is easily propagated from seed and is a fast grower. Most cassias tend to shrubby but pink cassia is a true tree growing to 30 feet or more. I had a fine specimen in my previous yard that was toppled by Hurricane Floyd. Most of it was in the bush so I left it right where it was. By the next flowering season it had produced vertical branches that were as long as the tree had previously been tall, all of them smothered in blossoms. Pink cassia can also be grown from cuttings.

Although there is a paucity of flowering trees at this time of year, this is the time when another brilliant but short-lived display is put on by the coral tree (Erythrina indica) which is another member of the pea family. Although named the coral tree, the flowers are red. The distinguishing feature of the coral tree is its compound leaves that consist of three leaflets shaped more or less like the spades in playing cards, three to four inches in diameter. The flowers are produced from clusters at the end of branches and are produced in rows from a whorled calyx, with one petal substantially longer than the rest. By the time the final flowers have appeared the first ones tend to be setting pods. The seeds are produced in these bean-like pods and are poisonous to some degree.

The Erythrina grows to 30 feet tall and produces its flowers after the deciduous leaves have been dropped. This causes the tree to look rather spare because flowers are only produced at the ends of branches rather than all along the branches as in pink cassia and royal poinciana.

Spare and brief -the flowering period is even shorter than pink cassia. The leaves return and give good shade during the summer months and the flowers are only a memory.

There is another Erythrina found in The Bahamas that flowers more rarely than E. indica but has far more spectacular leaves. This is the tiger claw or Erythrina variegata that has large leaflets that may be 8-10 inches across. Not only are they large, they are variegated, the veins being highlighted in half-inch wide yellow markings. This makes the tree very attractive.

The juvenile tiger claw keeps its leaves year round but tends not to flower at this stage. It is more compact than the coral tree and makes a striking specimen tree for the middle of a large lawn.

Both the coral tree and the tiger claw tree bear small thorns that might not be noticed until they inflict a wound.

Enjoy these trees while you may for their time of beauty is short.

* j.hardy@coralwave.com