Bird of Paradise Yellow (Caesalpinia gilliesii)

I took this close-up of a Yellow Bird of Paradise in full bloom sometime in mid summer of 2009 on one of our morning visits to the pool. There are a couple of these beautiful shrubs on the Legacy Golf Course side of the fence that boarders The Players Club pool area.

DESCRIPTION: Caesalpinia gilliesii is a shrub in the legume family. Commonly known as Bird of Paradise Yellow, it is not related to the more commonly know bird of paradise genus Strelitzia. It grows to 9-13 feet tall and about 8 feet wide. The leaves are bipinnate, 4-6 inches long, bearing 3-10 pairs of pinnae, each with 6-10 pairs of leaflets approximately 1/4 inches long and 1/8 inches broad. The flowers are borne in racemes up to 7-8 inches long, each flower with five yellow petals with 10 long conspicuous red stamens. This striking, upright, fast growing ornamental plant is native to tropical America, mainly Argentina and Uruguay. It is naturalized in Texas, and fairly common in the rest of the southwestern United States, where it is known as bird of paradise bush, desert bird of paradise, and yellow bird of paradise. Its natural growth habit is irregular and open, but pruning will encourage dense growth. This long-lived and durable shrub is quite tolerant of cold, heat and drought, and performs best in full sun exposures.  All parts of the yellow bird of paradise shrub are toxic and should never be ingested.