Follow us on FACEBOOK
Dominica Botanic Gardens
  • Home
  • About
    • Introduction to Website
    • A Brief History
    • Plan of Gardens
    • Contemporary Commentary
  • Botanic Gardens
    • Selected Trees and Shrubs
    • Medicinal Plants
    • Gardens Activities
    • Florida's Fairchild Garden
    • Parrot and Small Animal Sanctuary
    • Birds of the Gardens
    • Three Virtual Tours
    • Panoramic Views Today
    • Early Panoramic Views
    • Hurricane David's Ravages
    • Future Developments
    • Curators and Administrators
    • Reports and Documents
    • Getting Involved
    • Related Links
  • Hosted Sites
    • Honorees
    • Island Scholars
    • Cabinet Photos
    • Treasures of the Cathedral
    • Diaspora Policy Paper
  • DAAS
  • Contact

Selected Trees and Shrubs
Butea monosperma; synonym: B. frondosa, Common name: Flame of the Forest


Plant Family: Belongs to the Fabaceae family, which includes Bois Kwaib (Sabinea carinalis) and Glory Cedar (Gliricidia sepium)

Description: Erect, small to medium sized tree, up to 15 m tall (50 ft) with rough, grey bark; leaves trifoliate, leaflets leathery, elliptical and large, 15-20 cm long (6-8 in); bearing a brilliant profusion of beautiful crimson or orange-scarlet, velvet-textured flowers in dry months of April/May with fruits in July; flowers contain much nectar which attracts several species of birds, especially humming birds and sucriers (banana quits) in Dominica; pods pendulous, 7-10 cm long (3-4 in), yellow-brown when ripe.

Natural Habitat: Drier zones of tropical forests; propagation by seed, germination taking 1-3 weeks.

Origin and Distribution: Indigenous to drier forest areas of India and Malaysia, and distributed throughout S.E. Asia.

Uses: Yellow and orange dyes produced from flowers; bark furnishes fibre and resin, latter produced by scarifying the bark; resin used medicinally as an astringent and by women “in India to recover from weakness, .... and to reshape the body after delivery.” flowers popular with Indian women for hair adornment.

Indigenous Legends: Especially sacred to the Brahmins in India. When a Brahmin boy becomes a Sadhu (ascetic holy man), his head is shaved and he is given a Butea leaf to eat—the trifoliate formation representing the three major Hindu Gods - Vishnu in the middle, Brahma on the left and Shiva on the right.
​
References:
Anon. Official Guide to the Botanic Gardens, Dominica. Kew Gardens, London, 1924?
H.F. Macmillan. Tropical Planting and Gardening. Macmillan, London 1956
Butea frondosa – Flame of the Forest, Top Tropicals Botanical Center, Davie, FL 2005
Ashvini Gautam. Germination Guide to Tree Species. Dehra Dun, India 2005
Robert A.DeFilipps. Useful Plants of the Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies. Smithsonian Institution, Washington , D.C., 1998
Dan H. Nicolson. Flora of Dominica, Part 2: Dicotyledoneae. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 1991
​​Gardens Introduction

​

Preface - How it Began
Introduction to Website
A Brief History
Plan of Gardens 
Contemporary Commentary​
​Trees, Shrubs, Birds

​
​
Selected Trees and Shrubs
Medicinal Plants
​
Gardens Activities
  Florida's Fairchild Garden
Parrot/Animal Sanctuary
Birds of the Gardens
Garden Views

​
​
Three Virtual Tours
Panoramic Views Today
Early Panoramic Views
 
Hurricane David's Ravages
Future Developments
Curators/Administrators
Reports and Documents
  
Getting Involved
Related Links
Sub-sites

​

Honorees
Island Scholars
Cabinet Photos
​​Treasures of the Cathedral

​Diaspora Policy Paper
​

Visit the DAAS  Website
Picture
HOME
Site by
CONTACT 
Picture

Copyright © -  Davison Shillingford, Clayton Shillingford and (the late) Raglan Riviere