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Firmiana colorata, the scarlet sterculia or bonfire tree, is a medium-sized, spreading tree grown mainly for its showy orange-red flowers. Sheds its leaves before it blooms in spring, so it is best suited to a warm, frost-free garden with space to grow.
Firmiana colorata, the scarlet sterculia (also known as bonfire tree, coloured sterculia and Indian almond, in Assamese ওদাল (odal) and in Marathi known as "कौशी" [kaushi]), is a medium-sized tree with spreading branches. It sheds leaves before the onset of flowering. After leaf-shedding, buds sprout and develop into flowers. The tree flowers from March to April.
It produces flowers in short dense panicles which occur at the ends of the branches. The flowers are orange-red in colour and hang downwards. The flowering stalks together with flowers are covered with fine downy hairs giving the whole inflorescence a soft, velvety look. During flowering phase, the Scarlet Sterculia is quite prominent and presents a brilliant sight because of its orange-red flowers against a leafless state.
Firmiana hainanensis · Firmiana major · Chinese parasoltree · Parasoltree
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Firmiana colorata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
