Caesalpinia gilliesii (Wall. ex Hook.) Wall. ex D. Dietr.

vernacular bird-of-paradise shrub — species · Fabaceae

USDA: CAGI
GBIF: 8130309 syn.
Rank: species

bird-of-paradise shrub (Caesalpinia gilliesii) — Platephotograph · Wendy FelthamCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Tree, Vine
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus: Caesalpinia

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
PR Puerto Rico Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 10 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 10 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: None
Salinity: Low
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 27 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 320 min.
Precipitation: 2–10 in/yr
pH range: 7–8.5
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Stem
Growth rate: Slow
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 35 ft
Height @ 20 y: 20 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Dark Green
Porosity (summer): Porous
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Black
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: Low
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Spring
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 60,000
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Contracting Only
Nursery stock: Yes
Palatable, human: Yes
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 10 counties across 1 state.

Arizona view state ↗ 10 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CAGI ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/8130309 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T07:25:30Z