FLAMBOYANT BY NAME, FLAMBOYANT IN NATURE

摘要

The Linnean name is derived from the Greek words 'delos' meaning distinctive, which the tree certainly is, and 'onyx' meaning claw, referring to the shape and structure of the flowers. Regia clearly refers to the regal or royal aura that surrounds this tree. The common name flamboyant is in recognition of its flame-coloured flowers; Royal Ponciana because taxonomists originally placed the species in the genus Ponciana, named after Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy, the 1 7th-century governor of the island of Saint Christophe reputed to have introduced the tree into the New World. Saint Christophe was then a French Colony but is now an independent Commonwealth country called St Kitts and Nevis, having adopted flamboyant as its national flower.