Colville's Glory

racemosa: referring to the inflorescence which is a raceme

Tree to 17 m. Leaves large, to 1 m long; pinnae in 20-30 pairs. Leaflets 1.5 cm long, oblong. Racemes to 50 cm long, borne in groups of 4-12 near branch apices. Flowers crowded. Petals orange-red; stamens yellow, exserted. Fruit to 15 cm long.

Endemic to Madagascar

Perennial, Trees, Woo dy throughout, Stems erect or ascending, Stems greater than 2 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules inconspicuous, absent, or caducous, Leaves compound, Leaves bipinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets alternate or subopposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence axillary, Inflorescence or flowers lax, declined or pendulous, Bracts conspicuously present, Flowers actinomorphic or somewhat irregular, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx gibbous, inflated, or spurred, Calyx glabrous, Petals separate, Petals red, Petals orange or yellow, Stamens 9-10, Stamens completely free, separate, Filaments glabrous, Filaments hairy, villous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit inflated or turgid, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fru it 3-10 seeded, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Colvillea is a monotypic genus of legume in the family Fabaceae. Its only species is Colvillea racemosa. The genus is named for Sir Charles Colville, an ex Governor of Mauritius.

Colvillea racemosa is known by the common name Colville's glory. The tree is particularly known for its bright orange flowers that grow in large cone or cylinder shaped clusters. After flowering, the tree produces long, flat, woody seed pods. The tree has small deep green leaves, superficially similar to Delonix regia.

The tree is native to Madagascar, although it is now widely grown as an ornamental plant in Australia and North America. In its native range, the tree primarily grows in lowland forest and savannah areas.

The species is listed as "Least Concern" on the IUCN red list.