So this is a bit of a weird question but I've scoured the web and couldn't find an answer so here I am. I've been seeing some trees around my Seattle neighborhood that look suspiciously like royal poinciana except their flowers are a lot smaller. They bloom like crazy in the summer. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures but does anyone have any idea what it could be?

May we have more clues please.
Delonix regia ...common name Royal poinciana have red flowers.
Are we to assume mystery trees also have red flowers?

Meanwhile maybe this will help you.

https://www.seattle.gov/Docume...

The description makes me think of Pride of Barbados.

porkpal said:The description makes me think of Pride of Barbados.

Bingo.
I remember touring gardens in Seattle who had Caesalpinia pulcherrima that muddled through in places with fast-draining rocky or sandy soils.

porkpal said:The description makes me think of Pride of Barbados.

That sounds promising but pride of barbados seem more bushy while the tree I saw was at least one story tall. I guess I'll have to wait until summer and take some closeup pictures of the tree itself. Thanks for your input

Pride of Barbados (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) always remind me of miniature Royal Poinciana (Delonix regia)

Aesculus carnea Briotii?

https://www.google.com/search?...

Photos and more of a description of leaf size shape, bloom size, shape and color might help narrow it down but SilverSurfer may be on the right track with Red Horse-Chestnut (Aesculus x carnea) whose flower shape and size look similar. For comparison, here are images from our database of all 3:

Although Delonix regia (Royal Poinciana) grows very tall, I doubt it would survive in zone 8a.


Pride of Barbados (Caesalpinia) doesn't grow that tall and is listed as zones 9 to 11. I had one that was killed by frost when we lived in Florida zone 9a.


Red Horse Chestnut (Aesculus x carnea) grows from zone 5a to 8b so Silversurfer may be on the right track with that possibility.

Thank you everyone for your help! I'm hesitant to say that it's a pride of barbados because the tree in question is very tall (pretty much the same size as a royal poinciana). It definitely is not red horse chestnut because the leaves does not look like that at all. Leaves are similar to royal poinciana. Flowers are bigger but I don't remember how it looked exactly (I mistakenly wrote that the flowers are smaller in my original post). I guess I'll have to wait until next summer to get some good photos of it.

I wonder if maybe it's a red flowered Silk Tree? Foliage like Poinciana with red flowers, hardy to 6a.