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Spathodea campanulata (African Tuliptree) – An evergreen tropical tree that reaches 50 to 80 feet in its native lands in Central Africa but is more typically seen in California much smaller at around 25 to 35 feet tall by 15 to 25 feet wide. It is fast growing in youth, developing an upright rounded canopy and a thick trunk with rough gray bark and soft brittle branches with its rusty brown stems holding attractive 18 inch long pinnately compound leaves. These leaves have 4- to 6-inch-long leathery leaflets that first emerge a bronze color and age to dark green. The large clusters of brilliant orange-red tulip-shaped flowers appear at branch tips in coastal California in late summer and fall, starting off as a baseball size cluster of brown velvety claw shaped buds that split open lengthwise to reveal the 3 inch wide by 5 inch deep tulip-like trumpet shaped orange-red flowers with ruffled edges with each flower lasting several days. These open flowers are cup-shaped and hold rain and dew, making them attractive to many species of birds.
Plant in full sun in a warm location (south-facing slopes or sides of a building are the very best in our cool coastal climate) in well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally - once established this plant is surprisingly tolerant of infrequent or no additional irrigation over natural rainfall but it looks better when given an occasional drink. It is an evergreen tree in the tropics that can go drought deciduous and in our mild climate area will stop flowering and often go deciduous in late fall or at first frost, but in warm winters can flower through the winter, however it can freeze to hard wood when temperatures go much below freezing (28-30° F depending on duration). It is best planted in USDA zones 10 - 11 and even in these zones in California there is risk of frost damage. The roots survive at even lower temperatures such as occurred after the historic January 1949 freeze in Santa Barbara, where a tree that flowered as early as 1934 in Orpet Park (then called Hillside Park) froze to the ground but rebounded after the two nights recorded in the city down to 20 degrees F. This tree can also be grown close to the ocean with some protection from sea breezes (Zone 2) but seems to like the warmer temperatures afforded to it a bit further back from the beach and higher winds near the shore are also a problem with limbs that are a bit brittle. Minor but regular pruning may be necessary to keep it safe wind damage.
Spathodea campanulata comes from dry humid forests and savannas of sub-Saharan Africa from Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia but it is now planted worldwide. Spathodea campanulata is monotypic (the only species in its genus) and first observed in 1787 along the Gold Coast in now what is Ghana by the French naturalist Ambrose Maria Francis Joseph Palisot de Beauvois, who later described it in his Flora D'Oware et de Benin in 1805. The name comes from the Ancient Greek words 'spathe' meaning "a spathe" or "boat shaped" and 'odes' meaning "like" or "of the nature of" in reference to the large boat shaped calyx. The specific epithet is also a reference to the campanulate or "bell shaped" flowers. Besides African Tuliptree other common names include Fountain Tree, Pickari, Nandi flame and Squirt tree (because the nectar in the flower buds can be squirted out). Though noted as one of the world's most beautiful trees, Spathodea campanulata also has the dubious reputation as being one of the worst weeds. Though not so in California, it is considered invasive in Hawaii, Queensland (Australia), Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka. It was first introduced into cultivation in California in 1908 by Santa Barbara's pioneering nurseryman and botanist Dr. Francesco Franceschi (AKA Emanuele Orazio Fenzi) with a later introduction through USDA's Bureau of Plant Industry. Though Harry Butterfield listed Hugh Evans as first selling this plant as the historic Evans and Reeves Nursery in Los Angeles in 1942.
We grow have grown this tree from seed since first listing it in our 1982 catalog, but also grow the more uncommon yellow flowering form, which is a grafted plant and list it as Spathodea campanulata 'Aurea'. There are nice plantings of African Tuliptree as street trees in Santa Barbara on lower Alisos Street on the lower eastside as well as large specimens on the UCSB campus. There are also nice specimens in Balboa Park and San Diego State University in San Diego, CA, at the San Diego Botanic Gardens (Quail Botanical Gardens) in Encinitas, CA and at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia, CA.
Information displayed on this page about Spathodea campanulata is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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