Caesalpinia GILLIESII

Caesalpinia GILLIESII - Bird of paradise bush, Desert bird of paradise, Yellow bird of paradise, Caesalpinia gilliesii, Erythrostemon gilliesii.

Caesalpinia belongs to the extensive family Fabaceae, containing according to various sources from 60 to 150 plant species. All distribution territories fall within warm regions of both hemispheres of the globe, yet the native origin range of this plant comprises the lands of Argentina, Uruguay, the island of Barbados, and southeastern regions of Asia and tropical America.

All representatives of the genus possess a shrubby or arboreal growth habit, in rare cases taking the form of lianas (that is, represented as climbing shrubs). When grown indoors, plant height does not exceed one and a half meters (4.9 ft). Their shoots are frequently covered with prickles. Leaves form on the branches with bipinnate and compound-palmate outlines that somewhat resemble the feathery foliage of acacia, but in this legume representative the structure is somewhat more intricate. Leaf lobes are remarkably symmetrical, colored in bright light-green. Interestingly, with the arrival of evening hours, the plant's leaves begin to fold, which makes them considered even more decorative.

During flowering, buds gathered in racemose inflorescences begin opening at shoot tips. Unopened buds resemble small balls or wheels. The flowers are distinguished by large sizes and yellow, orange, cream, or red shades, but specimens with two-toned petals are also encountered. The calyx has five lobes; the lower one is concave in outline and usually exceeds the others in size. The corolla also has five petals; their dimensions are often equal, or the upper one is smaller than the others. Inside the corolla, five pairs of free stamens emerge; the ovary is sessile. It is the stamens that lend exotic appeal to the flower, as they hang freely from the corolla resembling whiskers. In nature, the fragrant and bright flowers attract diverse insects (bees), butterflies, and even hummingbirds for pollination.

After flower pollination, a fruit matures in the form of a pod with a leathery surface, which can be inflated or flat, and upon ripening either dehisces or remains closed. Seeds are arranged inside, which can be dispersed by the plant if the pod splits open.

Bird of paradise bush is an evergreen deciduous shrub reaching 1.5-3 m (4.9-9.8 ft) in height in nature, with elegant, delicate-green foliage, blooming with yellow flowers bearing long red stamens. The flowers are gathered into spherical inflorescences. It is a compact variety of Caesalpinia that can be easily grown in indoor conditions. Decorative period is year-round. Flowering period is spring and summer. It tolerates temperature drops down to -15 °C (5 °F), but at temperatures below -4 °C (25 °F) it drops its leaves. After flowering, fruits form - pods with seeds. Plants grown from seeds are ready to bloom in 2-4 years.

A day or two before sowing, soaking the seeds in warm water is required. Then scarification is performed - carefully rubbing the seed coat with a nail file, taking care not to damage its inner part. Sowing is carried out into a peat-sand mix thoroughly moistened prior to sowing. Sowing depth equals 0.5 cm (0.2 in). During germination, the substrate must always remain moist but not waterlogged. Then the container with crops is covered with a piece of glass or wrapped in a transparent plastic bag. The location where the pot with seeds is placed should be well-lit, and the temperature maintained in the range of 20-25 °C (68-77 °F). When caring for crops, remove the cover daily for 10-15 minutes, and if the soil starts drying out, mist it from a spray bottle. The first sprouts may appear in 10 days or after 4 months. After a pair of true leaves develops on the plants, transplanting into individual pots can be carried out.

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The plant prefers a brightly lit location where it receives at least 8 hours of good illumination. It is best to place the pot on an eastern or western windowsill. If light is insufficient, flowering will not occur. In spring and summer, the temperature range is 21-25 °C (70-77 °F); with the onset of autumn, 15-18 °C (59-64 °F) is optimal. Air humidity when cultivating the plant should be moderate, but it can adapt to dry indoor air, although periodic misting of the foliage is preferable. As flowers fade, they should be removed from the bush. Pruning is recommended in spring, but remember that inflorescences develop on growth of the current year, and if pruning is delayed, flowering may not occur. The plant is used for growing in bonsai technique. In summer, moving it outdoors into fresh air is recommended.

Watering in summer is required regularly - every 2-3 days. With the onset of winter, moistening of the soil becomes rarer, and its upper layer should dry out slightly. When the plant is young, overdrying of the root ball is detrimental to it, although mature specimens subsequently cope easily with drought. If watering is insufficient, flowers may fail to form. Fertilization is carried out from the start of the vegetative season at a frequency of once every 14 days. In early spring, preparations with higher nitrogen content are recommended - this is necessary for building foliage mass, and to improve the flowering process, fertilizers dominated by phosphorus and potassium should be applied.

While the plant is young, repotting is necessary annually, but over time changing the pot is recommended only once every 2 years. A new pot is selected 2-3 cm (0.8-1.2 in) larger than the old one. A drainage layer is laid at the bottom. It should be taken into account that most active growth and flowering is observed when the root system is completely interwoven and fills all the pot space. Only when root tips become visible in drainage holes is that a signal to change the pot. A simple substrate with moderate nutrient levels is suitable - for example, a mixture of leaf soil and sod soil with the addition of coarse sand. Commercial potting mixes based on high-moor peat with added perlite or vermiculite can be used. The acidity of such potting mix should be neutral (pH 6.5-7.5). During repotting, remember that damage to the root system of a young Caesalpinia leads to its loss, so this procedure is carried out by the potting-on method.