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Illawarra Flame Tree

Deciduous tree, up to 35 m high, but much smaller when grown in gardens and in cooler areas where it reaches a height of only about 10 m. It can take 5 – 8 years to flower if grown from a seed.

Leaves

Smooth, oval-shaped and can have three or five lobes (and sometimes more). Each leaf is 10 – 30 cm long. The tree loses some or all of its leaves at the end of winter, before flowering, and the leaves turn yellow just before falling.

Flowers

Bright coral-red and bell-shaped, they occur in clusters at the end of branches. They are 1 – 2 cm long and have a waxy surface. They appear after the tree has lost all or some of its leaves.

Fruits/Seeds

A dark-brown seed pod which is tough, leathery and about 10 cm long. It contains rows of corn-like seeds that are surrounded by hairs.

CAUTION: the hairs within the seed pod can irritate the skin and are easily inhaled, so it is not advisable to handle any open seed pods.

Field Guide

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  • Species Category: Plants
  • Species origin: Native
  • Conservation status: Common
  • Did You Know?
    • It requires lots of water when young but can tolerate droughts once it is established
    • Indigenous Australians made twine from the bark fibre for fishing nets and lines, and roasted the seeds for eating (special care was taken when preparing the seeds because of the dangerous hairs inside the seed pod)

  • What to Observe

    • First fully open single flower

    • Full flowering (record all days)

    • End of flowering (when 95% of the flowers have faded)

    • Open seed pods  (record all days)

    • First fully open leaf

    • Leaves open (record all days)

    • First leaf to change colour

    • Leaves changing colour (record all days)

    • First leaf to drop this year

    • 50% or more of leaves dropped (record all days)

    • No leaves (record all days)

  • When and Where

    When To Look

    • Most of the year
    • Leaves appear in summer through autumn
    • Leaves fall at the end of winter through spring
    • Flowers appear in spring and summer
    • Seed pods appear after flowering

    Where To Look

    • East coast from far north Queensland to the south coast of NSW
    • In subtropical rainforest along the coast to the inland mountain ranges, including urban areas
    • Look in parks, gardens and along streets

  • What Else?

    Similar Species

    Poinciana (Delonix regia) has feathery and fern-like leaves, doesn’t have the bell-shaped flowers, and has larger seed pods (20 – 70 cm long).
  • Trails: Albury Botanic Gardens NSW, Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mount Coot-tha QLD, Brisbane City Gardens QLD, Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens QLD, James Cook University Cairns QLD, Kangaroo Valley PS NSW, Kings Park & Botanic Garden WA, Rocky Creek Dam NSW, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne VIC, Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney NSW, University of Sydney NSW, University of Western Australia WA
  • Species Region: Australia