Calliandra haematocephala

Powder puff tree is a shrub or small tree up to 5 m high, usually multiple trunked, low-branching, spreading and forming a rounded crown. The leaves close at night.
BARK: thin, droop as the tree grows, no thorns
LEAVES: alternate, b-pinnate with one pair of pinnae (5-10 pairs of leaflets per pinna) open copper-pink but mature to dark green, petioles long, slightly swollen at the base. Basal pair of leaflets reduced, sub-opposite, inner leaflets smaller, terminal leaflets narrowly ovate, elliptic to obovate.
FLOWERS: red, pink blooming in puffs, red silky stamens.
FRUITS: brown pod like fruit, dry and hard.

Anti-oxidant compounds cause this plant to be used as a blood purifier in some traditional medicines.
An ornamental tree.

Powder puff tree is native to Bolivia. The red powder puff flowers are attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. In Kampala, this tree can be found within Makerere University at Nkrumah Hall.

Fast growing. Trimming, pruning.