Martha's exotic Backyard in Israel
Spathodea campanulata, Spathodea nilotica,
African Tulip Tree, Flame-of-the-Forest,
עץ הטוליפ ,מתחלית פעמונית

Pictures taken during 'Tour guide in-service training' at Weizman Insitute, Rehovot, an institution of scientific learning with the most beautiful campus. The site is landscaped with interesting and unusual vegetation, green lawns, bushes, trees and foothpaths shaded by trees from all parts of the globe, and the African Tulip Tree or Flame-of-the-Forest, is one of them.
Scientific name:  Spathodea campanulata Beauv.
Synonym name:  Spathodea nilotica Seem.
Common name:  African Tulip Tree, Flame-of-the-Forest
Hebrew name:  עץ הטוליפ ,מתחלית פעמונית
Family:  Bignoniaceae, Trumpet Creeper Family, ביגנוניים

Spathodea campanulata, Spathodea nilotica, African Tulip Tree, Flame-of-the-Forest,עץ הטוליפ ,מתחלית פעמונית

Life form:  Tree, medium sized, 7–25 m m high, deciduous, with a round, heavy crown of dense, dark foliage, sometimes somewhat flattened
Stems:  Young bark pale, grey-brown, smooth; with age turns grey-black, scaly, cracked vertically and horizontally
Leaves:  Odd-pinnate, opposite, with 13 - 17 opposite elliptic leaflets
Inflorescence:  Terminal racemes, upward facing, orange-red or yellow flowers unfurl from velvety, horn-shaped buds; flowers in circular whorls with a collection of crowded buds in the center of the circle
Flowers:  Hermaphrodite; campanulate, claw-shaped, crinkled orange-red to scarlet or yellow petals, with 4 pale yellow stamens and dark brown anthers
Fruits / pods:  Capsules, lance or boat-shaped on stout stalks
Flowering Period:  March to December
Habitat:  Naturally in Africa in secondary forests in the high forest zone and in deciduous, transition, and savannah forests
Distribution:  The Weizmann Institute campus, Rehovot
Chorotype:  Tropical West and Central Africa

Spathodea campanulata, Spathodea nilotica, African Tulip Tree, Flame-of-the-Forest,עץ הטוליפ ,מתחלית פעמונית


Derivation of the botanical name:
Spathodea, spathe, Greek, meaning resembling a spathe; in allusion to the form of the calyx.
campanulata, bell-shaped.
nilotica, from the valley of the Nile.
  • The standard author abbreviation Beauv. is used to indicate Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot de Beauvois (1752 – 1820), a French naturalist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Seem. is used to indicate Berthold Carl Seemann (1825 – 1871), a German botanist.


Spathodea campanulata, Spathodea nilotica, African Tulip Tree, Flame-of-the-Forest,עץ הטוליפ ,מתחלית פעמונית


Spathodea campanulata, Spathodea nilotica, African Tulip Tree, Flame-of-the-Forest,עץ הטוליפ ,מתחלית פעמונית