Cassia grandisCoral Shower Tree

The Cassia grandis, commonly known as the Coral Shower Tree or Horse Cassia, is a broad-crowned tropical American tree that flowers on bare or near-bare wood. Dense racemes open coral pink and age to salmon and apricot, covering the whole canopy before the new pinnate foliage flushes bronze behind them.

It is the largest and heaviest-flowering of the shower trees commonly planted in the Gulf, and it needs the room to prove it. Specifiers use it as a spring feature in parks, resort grounds and wide boulevards.

Specifications

• Height15 to 20 metres
• Width10 to 15 metres
• Native toSouthern Mexico, Central America and northern South America
• FoliagePinnate leaves with many paired oblong leaflets, flushing bronze-pink before turning deep green; briefly deciduous before flowering
• Growth rateModerate

Conditions

• SoilPrefers deep, well-drained sandy or loamy soils; tolerates alkaline ground with adequate irrigation
• LightFull sun
• WaterModerate; needs reliable water through establishment and performs best where irrigation is available
• ClimateThrives in tropical and warm subtropical regions and carries Gulf summer heat; frost-sensitive

Additional Features

• FlowersDense pendulous racemes opening coral pink and ageing to salmon and apricot, borne on bare or near-bare wood in spring
• FruitLong, thick, dark cylindrical pods that persist on the tree and are worth planning for above paving
• UsesPark and resort feature planting, wide boulevard and civic avenue planting, large-scale flowering displays
• SpacingPlant 10 to 15 metres apart so the crown and the flowering display develop fully
• Low MaintenanceFormative pruning to a clear stem is the main requirement; remove fallen pods from trafficked areas
• Pest ResistanceGenerally robust with no significant pest or disease issues in dry climates
• Seasonal AppealThe spring flowering flush on bare wood is among the most dramatic available from any tree at this scale
• FormWide, high canopy giving good filtered shade outside the flowering period
• Frost SensitivityDamaged by frost, so it is limited to genuinely warm sites

The Coral Shower Tree is a spring set piece, and it earns its place wherever there is room for a canopy of this size.