Caesalpinia gilliesii

Bird-of-paradise

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Bird-of-paradise is a naturalized perennial found in southern California, San Gabriel Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, and Mojave Desert in disturbed areas at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces vibrant yellow flowers with orange marks on long stamens up to 10 centimeters long. Growing up to 4 meters tall with glandular-hairy stems, it forms an evergreen shrub with delicate, feathery compound leaves. Its leaves feature 16 to 30 primary leaflets and 14 to 22 secondary leaflets, each less than 8 millimeters long, creating a soft, intricate foliage texture. The fruit develops as a flat, slightly curved pod 6 to 12 centimeters long, containing 6 to 10 brown ovate seeds.

Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed areas

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: SCo, SnGb, PR, DMoj, expected elsewhere

California counties: San Bernardino, Kern, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Tehama, Los Angeles, Ventura, San Diego, Tulare, San Joaquin, Alameda, Contra Costa, Yolo, Santa Clara, Solano

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.