Trees of San Diego: The Brazilian Fern Tree

Schizolobium parahyba in front of a house in Oceanside, California. Inset: Flowers on the tree at Quail Botanic Garden. Photographs by Don Walker

Not a fern at all but definitely a tree, Brazilian fern tree (Schizolobium parahyba) is one of the most spectacular flowering trees in the world. Native from southern Mexico to southern Brazil, this giant member of the legume plant family is allied to both Cassia and Senna, and is impressive for its size alone. Although it is a tropical tree, it is hardier to cold than most gardeners realize and can be grown successfully in many Southern California climates where strong frosts seldom occur.

Brazilian fern tree has a dramatic growth habit, and is big in every way. Young plants have a single straight trunk that is topped by a crown of three-foot-long, bright green, doubly pinnate leaves, each composed of hundreds of half-inch to one-inch narrow leaflets, which give the effect of a large tree fern. Mature trees in the tropics may be as much as one hundred feet tall, with a thick whitish trunk that reaches thirty feet in height before it branches and a spreading can...