Cassia roxburghii (Red Cassia)

Native to southern India and Sri Lanka, this flowering tree in the legume family grows about 20 to 30 feet tall in Florida gardens. Its rounded crown has slender, drooping branches and compound leaves with many pairs of small, blunt-tipped leaflets. Fine, soft hairs cover the young twigs. Clusters of pink, rose, or orange flowers appear in late summer and fall in southern Florida. Cylindrical seed pods measure about 8 to 12 inches long. It grows in seasonally dry tropical habitats and is cultivated as an ornamental. It has naturalized in Jamaica. Photographed in Florida.