Greek spathe — sheath, odes — resembling, referring to the sheath-like calyx

Evergreen tree to about 20 m tall. Leaves to 50 cm long. Leaflets 9-19, ovate-lanceolate, to 10 cm long. Flowers in terminal flat-topped clusters, hairy at first. Calyx spathe-like, about 7 cm long, leathery, split on one side. Corolla orange to scarlet, to 12 cm long, slightly 2-lipped, swollen on one side. Stamens 4. Fruit capsule about 20 cm long, 5 cm wide.

Widely grown in the tropics for the broad canopy and spectacular blossoms as a street tree and specimen tree in parks and large gardens and popular in coastal areas of Australia from N NSW northwards. The fruit is poisonous.

Seed or semi-hardwood cuttings.

Unusual leathery, spathe-like calyx to 7 cm long and split on one side.

1 species from tropical Africa.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Bignoniaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.