Gulmohar Tree (Delonix regia): Where It Grows in India and How to Plant It
Delonix regia
Gulmohar (Delonix regia), the flame tree or royal poinciana in English, is a summer-flowering avenue tree from Madagascar. What it looks like, where it grows in India, when it flowers, how and when to plant it, care for the first three years, and whether it is harmful.
Benefits
Benefits of Gulmohar
Gulmohar's main gifts are colour and wide summer shade: it is above all an ornamental and avenue tree, not a fruit or timber tree.
- Colour: ICRAF notes that it is mainly valued as a decorative tree for avenues and gardens. It flowers in the hot months.
- Shade: ICRAF records it as a shade tree in dairy farms, tea plantations and compounds. In dry regions the shade is seasonal, because the tree is bare for part of the spring.
- Bees and urban wildlife: ICRAF says the flowers are reputed to give forage for bees, and Plants of Rajasthan notes that the broad canopy offers shade and nesting sites for urban wildlife.
- Fuel, gum and beads: the pods and wood are used as fuel, the tree yields a gum, and the hard seeds are sometimes used as beads (ICRAF). The wood is soft and brittle, so it is not grown for timber.
Traditional uses
ICRAF notes that the bark has traditional medicinal uses, and Kew lists medicine among the recorded uses of the species. Traditional use does not prove that any part works or is safe. Do not use the bark, seeds or flowers as a home treatment, and talk to a qualified doctor about any health problem.
- Ornamental: Mainly valued as a decorative avenue and garden tree (ICRAF), with big clusters of scarlet to orange-red flowers in the hot months, mostly April-June in north and central India.
- Shade and cooling: ICRAF records it as a shade tree in dairy farms, tea plantations and compounds; in dry regions the shade is seasonal because the tree is bare for part of the spring.
- Pollinators: ICRAF says the flowers are reputed to give forage for bees.
- Biodiversity: Plants of Rajasthan notes that the broad canopy offers shade and nesting sites for urban wildlife.
- Other: Pods and wood are used as fuel, the tree yields a gum, and the hard seeds are sometimes used as beads (ICRAF). The wood is soft and brittle, so it is not a timber tree.
- Medicinal: ICRAF notes traditional medicinal uses of the bark, and Kew lists medicine among recorded uses. Traditional use does not prove that any part works or is safe; do not use it as a home treatment, and talk to a qualified doctor.
This article was prepared with AI assistance and checked by the GreenEye team against the sources shown in each section.
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