PlantFiles: African Tulip Tree, Flame of The Forest, Fountain Tree, Firebell
Spathodea campanulata

I have never grown this tree , but remember seeing it lining several streets in the city and was used a a shade tree(where I grew up in India). The tree is a beautiful sight as many have described, and the seed pods open up into 4 boat shaped woody structures. As kids we used these as boats to sail down steams of rainwater duirng the monsoon! Wonderful memories, it kept us occupied all evening!
I am however unaware of the smell that some folks have commented about, the trees were so huge and we never got close enough maybe?

Please think twice before planting this HUGELY messy, stinky, pain!
I have 4 huge ones on the borders of my property, and have to sweep my driveway daily. On the gravel path each dropped, ant infested flower, seedpod or twig has to be picked up individually!
lf these trees were on my property, l would CUT THEM DOWN!

I have not grown this tree; however, I have observed it growing in Maui, Hawaii. It has been naturalized in Florida, the Hawaiian Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

9B Saint Petersburg, Fl/ So far so good. I have a two year old specimen about 25 feet tall! It is probably 10 inches in diameter, but has a branching nature rather than one large trunk.

I am excited to report that it survived temperatures as low as 26 degrees this winter. After the freeze, the tree began to defoliate (from base to tips) from all branches/trunks. I was concerned this might be the end of my tree that is certainly a stretch in 9B. Instead the defoliation stopped about 1/3 of the way out and seems to have recovered.

No blooms from this tree yet and very few branches on the main trunk. My nursery expert has recommended topping the tree to induce branching and it sounds like this might be a good plan to limit growth though i'm hoping the cold snaps here will assist with that too.

A beautiful tree that initially grew to 10 ft, and bloomed. Froze to the ground during the winter here in Glendale AZ. Removed it from its original home in dappled shade and planted in full sun, seems to have survived the winter but no leaves as of yet.

The African Tulip Tree is an awesome sight when in bloom, to say the least. However, as a homeowner, I feel it is important to inform gardeners of the high maintenance nature of these gorgeous trees. Here in south FL, they must be pruned annually to restrict the rapid growth, and to keep them tidy. These trees have a tendency to become enormously tall, with a very open canopy. Due to it's ultimate size, this tree is much too large for the average urban lot, and is better in a large public park. Also, these trees are prone to breaking apart during high winds, and can pose a real hazard to nearby structures. I don't think I've ever seen a large Spathodea in Florida without a number of large broken limbs- even before the dreaded hurricanes. There is an issue with the near constant litter produced by larger trees- leaves, twigs, and of course, winged seeds galore. Finally, those gorgeous blossoms don't smell as nice as they look. In fact, they have a skunk-like aroma, which is in odd contrast to their extraordinary beauty.

This tree is considered VERY invasive in Hawaii. Though they are beautiful to see when they are all in bloom (like right now) giving a lot of color to the landscape, any place where one of their little windblown papery seeds fly will be a host for the plant. They grow to tremendous heights and do look beautiful in gulches and areas where erosion might be a problem.

I can look out my windows at this very minute and see some near, some far across the gulch....but at least 3 dozen or more trees in bloom.

The most common ones are a redish, flame orange. You do see some with saffron yellow blooms from time to time, but not often.

The blooms attract a lot of ants......as I learned when I tried to use them in flower arrangements. The canoe shaped seed pods are used by some crafters in their artwork, sometimes incorporated into wreaths.

This tree is largely used here in Rio de Janeiro. You can distinguish from a fair distance this tree when it´s blooming. The flowers are great, it´s resistant to insects, atracts bees, produces lots of seeds, and is not invasive. A great tree for warm climates.

My own experience with this tree in Thousand Oaks, north of Los Angeles has been sad. Can't survive out winters. But I saw them all over Hawaii and they are simply incredible. Not native, howver, they are now considered a serious invasive weed on Hawaii. The seeds float gently on the breezes and little trees pop up everywhere. Oh, if our weeds here in Southern California could look so nice.

Hello! I'm new here. My experience with the African Tulip Tree is very present. I'm portuguese, live in Lisbon (Europe zone 10). This summer (July) I went to Dominican Republic on holidays. I saw that beautiful flowering and quite big tree in Princess Bavaro Resort, Punta Cana, under the tree I found several boat like pods and near lots of small paper like winged seeds. I collected several. At home, around a week ago I soaked 6 in water for about 8 hours, then I have sown 2 directly in bonsai mix soil mixed with very small pebbles ( aquarium use)and beach sand (dominican sand mixed with coral, that I brought with me), in a small bonsai pot,1 of the 2 germinated 2 days ago, is now a seedling with 2cm high and two cotiledones only, the other 4 that I also soaked in water for several hours, then put the seeds on a wet cotton pad inside a small perspex box, 2 already germinated and are now in another bonsai pot with the same mixed soil. Lets hope they can succed the next winter and go strong. I live in an apartment, no garden, patio or balcony, only my kitchen as a greenhouse and the window sills. By now I think you understood that I love bonsai and that i intend to grow them to be small bonsai later in time. I also collected Delonix Regia (Royal Poinciana) and Caesalpinia Pulcherrima (Dwarf Poinciana ou Pride of Barbados ) seeds, I follow the same steps and also have seedlings growing, this ones with cotiledones and two real leaves already similar to each other.

P.S. For the Delonix Regia and Caesalpinia you have to soak more hours, let´s say 24horas/36 hours, but before you have to nick the ends with a nail file carefully to not ruin the embryo. Then sow in vitro with wet cotton pad or directly in container.