Genus: Duranta

I recently purchased one of these. I like how the flower clusters hang down. They remind me of wisteria from a far.

Thanks guys... and thanks for the info Marguerite! I have also seen these in a butterfly garden I visited.

That is interesting that they are native here, Delonix. I have never seen them in the wild, and I don't think I have ever seen them in home gardens. But that may be due to the thorns you mentioned Marguerite.

Gardengem,

Duranta repens is native to the State of Florida where you live. They are very easy to grow and will naturalize easily.

I tell you what it is: Duranta repens. I have many in my garden, the shrub gets orange berries, which the birds like and the butterflies are attracted to the flowers. Watch out for its nasty thorns though, I once got pricked and had a nasty reaction, they are slightly toxic. Those little trainlings dangling there are more than likely going to be the orange berries, which come in clusters.

It really looks nice and stands out against that green...

It's a beautiful colour. I wonder what it's called.

It is lovely.

Marguerite,

I will have to remember your bad experience if I ever plant this shrub/tree. It sounds like it was a nightmare.

I've heard they can become invasive...the birds eat the seeds and the seeds germinate through their droppings, like many other plants and trees. This plant is common as a shrub...however, the variegated Duranta tree I posted is the largest I have ever seen in California. Do they grow this large (over 10 meters) in Australia? I know in Florida where they are native they grow large.

I had no idea this tree comes from Florida.

Hey, haven't seen this one at all. Do they have the leathal spikes as well?

I always like the little blue flowers against the orange berries. I only had one tree in the garden in Darwin and then bought a few more of those plants. They grew quite slowly, yet here they are almost a weed.

A very common plant here and in Darwin, often used for screening ( hedging ). They respond well to heavy pruning and if that one was my bush, I'd have the secateurs out at once, snipping the ones off the bottom, which are dragging over the ground. I'd make it go up and give it a good prune in all directions, lol. Mind you, they are toxic when you cut your finger on one of those nasty spikes! I had a swollen finger for weeks and had to soak it in hot salty water several times a day. It was not just an infection, but an allergic reaction. I was really handicapped as I could't close the hand anymore, which is a real pain for a gardener. Nice picture, and it looks so familiar, so funny in the other side of the world to see the same plants.

I think it's because pigeons and other birds eat the berries.

Why Pigeon Berry?
Do the pigeons eat the berries?

She pruned it back in the spring about a month before she brought it outside for the summer months, it was starting to look pretty leggy and limp,and yes they have very long sharp thorns at each leaf axis. One of the reasons I gave it away...lol.

That sounds interesting Flcrazy, because these grow like mad and if you don't prune them regularly they take over. I wonder how they behave in a greenhouse. Did you get the thorns on them as well?

I've grown these before as an annual, I love the picotee blooms. I gave mine to my sister-in-law at the end of the growing season, she has a greenhouse to overwinter it in.