Handroanthus billbergii

Native from the Caribbean to northern Peru, this plant is a deciduous tree found in Colombia’s Caribbean lowlands. It can reach about forty feet tall. Its leaves have three to five leaflets arranged like fingers, and its lemon-yellow trumpet-shaped flowers have reddish or brownish lines in the throat. Slender capsules split open to release seeds with two thin wings. The tree loses its leaves during dry periods. On Curaçao, dormant flower buds can open after a rainstorm, producing a brief display that may recur several times a year. There it is called kibrahacha, meaning “axe breaker,” a reference to its hard wood. Photographed in the department of Atlántico, Colombia.