The royal poinciana or flamboyan (Delonix regia (Bojer ex Hooker) Rafinesque) is a member of the Caesalpinioideae, a subfamily of the Fabaceae or the legume family. The royal poinciana grows ten to twelve meters (35 to 40 feet) in height and twelve to eighteen meters (40 to 60 feet) across. The tree has been introduced throughout the tropics, but apparently is not an invasive species.

Royal poinciana is covered with the large red blooms in early spring. The uppermost petal, the flag, is lighter red or orange with white and yellow streaking. It needs regular watering to establish the tree, but once established it blooms best when it undergoes drought through the winter months.

The poinciana was discovered by Wenceslas Bojer in eastern Madagascar at a place called Foulpointe. According to Laurence J. Dorr, the poinciana is native to Madagascar, simply not the area where Bojer 'discovered' it. It is believed Arab traders planted the trees from the western side of the island to the port town. Their native habitat would not be discovered until Jacques Leandri found the trees in the Antsingy Forest Reserve in 1932. (Plant Collectors in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, L. J. Dorr, Royal Botanic Gardens, 1977)

Bojer suggested the name Poinciana regia to William Jackson Hooker who published the name in 1829. The name is said to honor Commandeur Blondel de Lonvilliers de Poincy the first French governor in the West Indies in the early 1600s. Apparently there was a problem with the generic name and it was renamed Delonix by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1836 or 1837.