A DWARF POINCIANA'S
SNAPPING LEGUMES

I watched the fighting iguanas from the roof of my lodging, with a Dwarf Poinciana, POINCIANA PULCHERRIMA, right below me. I've mentioned how hummingbirds love this little tree's large, red-and-orange blossoms. These trees, watered regularly, somehow have kept blooming ever since I arrived here in October, though now they bear many more fruits than flowers. That's the pretty flowers and feathery, mimosa-like leaves at the right.

On that late afternoon with a very hot wind blowing and the sunlight at its most ferocious, curious snapping sounds began originating inside the tree. It was about as loud as snapped fingers but with a dry, woody character. After looking several times, trying to catch the snapper, finally I saw a split-open seed pod, or legume, tumbling from the tree immediately after a snap.

So, here was another example of explosive seed pods! When the legumes' two sides had sprung apart, seeds had been slung a good distance. Many if not most pods explode with such violence that the entire split-open legume breaks from its twig. However, now I began noticing that some exploded pods, or at least one side them, remained on the tree, still coiled after the violent split. Usually such remaining pods or parts of pods remaining on the tree are empty of seeds but I found one with a few seeds still attached, showing how the seeds are arranged. You can see it, much-twisted after its explosion, at the left.

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