Schizolobium parahyba Brazilian fern tree

Schizolobium parahyba at Faculty Club (now removed). John Rawlings, ca. 2005

This small tree has 15 (or so) pairs of ⅜-inch by 1-inch leaflets, plus one terminal leaflet, the whole set extending to about a foot. These sets are borne in pairs on an axis that is five or more feet long. To add to its striking appearance, the 2-inch diameter specimen that used to be in the garden on the north side of the Faculty Club displayed all its foliage in the form of a fountain. The tree, planted August 2003, died in winter 2005. It used to be able to be compared with its close relative Caesalpinia gilliesii on the north side of the Bookstore (now no longer present either).

Illustrations: leaf.