Calliandra haematocephala Hassk.

Red powder puff, stickpea

Red powderpuffs have arresting flowers shaped like soft round brushes. They are not native to North America, but they are popular cultivated plants. They are Bolivian natives. Red powderpuffs actually come in pink and white as well as red.

Plants: These multiply trunked shrubs or small trees are 10–15′ (3–4.6 m) high. Branches are brown and rough.

Leaves: Alternate, oblong, bipinnate, up to 6″ (15 cm) long, with 5-10 pairs of glossy green leaflets. New leaves are coppery pink.

Flowers: Scarlet (or pink or white), with globose sprays of stamens resembling soft round brushes or pom-poms. The “puffs” are not the flowers. The flowers are small and white, fused together in the center of the puff, while the puff is composed of stamens. Buds look like dark pink globose raspberries. The shape and color of these arrays are unmistakable.

Fruits: Bean-shaped seed pods are 2–4 ⨉ ⅛–½″ (6–11 cm ⨉ 5–13 mm), with five or six brown, oblong seeds ¼–⅜ ⨉ ⅛″ (7–10 ⨉ 4 mm).

Habitats: In seasonally dry subtropical woodland and woodland-savanna transition zones, at elevations of 787–2625′ (240–800 m).

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Calliandra haematocephala description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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