Delonix regia (Bojer ex Hook.) Raf.

vernacular royal poinciana — species · Fabaceae

USDA: DERE
GBIF: 2956176
Rank: species

royal poinciana (Delonix regia) — Platephotograph · Alexander R. Meza source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus: Delonix

§2a

Native status, by region

HI Hawaii Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
NAV Navassa Island Introduced
PB Pacific Basin (except Hawaii) Introduced
PR Puerto Rico Introduced
VI U.S. Virgin Islands Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 6 counties across 2 states/territories

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 6 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: None
Salinity: Medium
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 31 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
Precipitation: 40–100 in/yr
pH range: 4–7
Root depth: 60 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 50 ft
Height @ 20 y: 50 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Orange
Fruit colour: Black
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: Low
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Summer
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Year Round
Seed ends: Year Round
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 900
Propagation: seed, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Fuelwood: Medium
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 6 counties across 2 states/territories.

Florida view state ↗ 5 I ▾

Hawaii view state ↗ 1 I ▾

Honolulu 15003

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/DERE ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2956176 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z