Plant one next to your lake and watch it expand into a rocketship, slowly launching itself toward the stars. Bare for a few months in the dry season, the leaves appear with spring. They are palmately compound, the most highly evolved leaves in the New World Tropics. Note chlorophyll-containing green branches, a strategy for fast growth. Flower, fragrant at night, consists of five long petals surrounding a bundle of pink stamens.
Fruit is a reddish-brown pod, suitable for playing rugby.
When you are done, the seeds may be eaten either raw or cooked. At left, prop roots are the start of the buttresses that will develop later. At right, a line of Pachiras in 45-gal. Planted height is 10-12 feet. Firebush Hamelia patens Guaranteed color during the rainy season.