NAT, ORDER. 
Leguminosce. 
POINCIANA PULCHERRIMA. CHINA POINCINANA. 
Class X. Decandria. Order I. Monogynia. 
Gen. Char. Calyx, sepals five, unequal. Petals, five, stipitate 
and defiDrmed. Sta77iens, ten, longer than the petals. 
(Spe. Char. Leaflets prickly, ovate or obovate, notched at the end, 
smooth. Petals finibricate, longly, stipitate. 
Sepals are five in number, unequal, joined at the base into a 
somewhat persistent cup, the lower one arched ; the petals are five, 
stipitate, having the upper one of a different form ; the stamens 
are ten, very long, all bearing anthers, filaments hairy at the base ; 
style very \ong; legume flatly compressed, two-valved, somewhat 
many-celled, with spongy isthmuses ; xho, seeds are obovate, com- 
pressed, having the internal integument in a gelatinous water; 
cotyledons, flat and oval ; the leaves are abruptly bipinnate ; the 
flowers are disposed in a corymbose panicle; pedicels long, without 
bracteas at the base. 
This most magnificent shrub grows to the height of ten feet 
and upwards ; and as the plate shows, bears panicles of the most 
brilliant flowers. It is a native of the East Indies. Sigou states 
that it was imported into Barbadoes from the Cape de Verd Island. 
Its beauty has attracted the attention of the Chinese for some time, 
and wherever they settle, they cultivate it as the crown of all 
garden ornaments, and call it by the name of the peacock's crest. 
It was introduced into Holland from Amboyna about the year 1670, 
where it was extensively cultivated in the Chelsea Garden by Sir 
Hans Sloane, in the year 1691. The flowers are most beautiful to 
Vol. u.— 43 
