Calliandra surinamensis is a low branching evergreen tropical shrub that is named after Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

, a country in Northern South America. The plant usually has complexly branched multiple trunks and grows to a height of about 5 metres, although many sources suggest that it only attains a height of 3 metres. Left unpruned it grows long thin branches that eventually droop down onto the ground.

Leaves

The leaves are bipinnate. Each pair of leaflets, or pinnae, are in turn divided into about six pairs of leaflets, pinnules.

Flowers

The flowers present as globose heads with small green petals and calyx with up to a 100 stamens more or less united into a tube. The stamens are long, hairlike, colourful and protrude well beyond the petals. C. surinamensis flowers all year round with definite more prolific periods. The flowers are short lived and sticky and combined with their quantity give this plant a reputation for making a mess especially on vehicles parked under it.

Stamens

The numerous colourful stamens are white towards the base and pink towards the top. It is the stamens & anthers that give the flower the appearance of a pink powder puff.

Interactions

The shrub's year round nectar and pollen attracts wildlife such as lorikeets and fruit bats.