Cassia x nealiae - Meet the Plants - National Tropical Botanical Garden Plant Database

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Taxonomy:

Cassia ×nealiae (Fabaceae)

Kingdom: Plantae-Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta-Vascular plants

Superdivision: Spermatophyta-Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta-Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida-Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae - Pea family
Genus: Cassia L. - Cassia
Species: Cassia ×nealiae H. S. Irwin & Barneby - Rainbow Shower
(National Plant Database. 2005.)

Common Name:
Rainbow Shower Tree

Description:

Rainbow shower tree can grow to about 10 m tall. It has compound and alternate leaves, each with 6 to 10 pairs of oval leaflets.

The flowers appear in long hanging clusters and have 5 petals and a long, curved style. The petals are white, yellow and cream, to orange-red. The cultivar pictured here 'Queen's Hospital White' has unscented yellowish flowers, turning white. The species name commemorates Hawaii botanist Marie C. Neal.

(Neal,M.C. 1965. In Gardens of Hawaii.)
(Staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus Third.)

Geographic Distribution:

This very popular hybrid has been originally produced in Hawaii but it is cultivated throughout the tropics.

(Neal,M.C. 1965. In Gardens of Hawaii.)
(Staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus Third.)

Status:

Cassia ×nealiae is a hybrid between Cassia javanica and Cassia fistula produced in Hawaii. In 1965, the rainbow shower tree become the official tree of Honolulu.

(Neal,M.C. 1965. In Gardens of Hawaii.)
(Staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus Third.)

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