Synonyms:

• (=) Spathodea nilotica Seem.

Common names:

• African-tuliptree  (Source: Dict Rehm) - English
• flame-of-the-forest  (Source: Hortus 3) - English
• flametree  (Source: Aust Pl Common Names) - English
• tuliptree  (Source: Aust Pl Common Names) - English
• tulipier du Gabon  (Source: Dict Rehm) - French
• afrikanischer Tulpenbaum  (Source: Dict Rehm) - German
• bisnagueira  (Source: pers. comm.) - Portuguese (Brazil)
• espatódea  (Source: pers. comm.) - Portuguese (Brazil)
• tulipeira-da-África  (Source: pers. comm.) - Portuguese (Brazil)
• tulipán africano  (Source: Dict Rehm) - Spanish
• afrikanskt tulpanträd  (Source: Kulturvaxtdatabas) - Swedish

Economic Importance:

• Environmental: ornamental (fide Hortus 3; Invasive Pl Spec)
• Weed: potential seed contaminant (weed in Pacific fide W. Liebreghts, pers. comm. via email 26 Dec 1997; Invasive Pl Spec)

Distributional Range:

Native

Africa

• WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Burundi, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, [Bioko] Gabon, Rwanda, Zaire
• WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Benin, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo
• SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Angola


Cultivated (also cult.)

Naturalized

Africa

• WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Comoros, Mayotte, Reunion, Seychelles

Asia-Tropical

• MALESIA: Singapore

Australasia

• AUSTRALIA: Australia

Pacific

• NORTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: United States [Hawaii]
• NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC: Guam, Micronesia, Palau
• SOUTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: Cook Islands, French Polynesia
• SOUTHWESTERN PACIFIC: Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna Islands

Southern America

• CARIBBEAN: West Indies

References:

1. Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource on www.skud.info). 2012 (Kulturvaxtdatabas)
2. Aubréville, A. et al., eds. Flore du Cameroun. 1963- (F Cameroun)
3. Friedmann, F. Flore des Seychelles. 1994 (F Seychelles)
4. Gentry, A. H. 1992. Bignoniaceae - Part II (Tribe Tecomeae) Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 25(2):118.
5. Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. (pers. comm.)
6. Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER): plant threats to Pacific ecosystems (on-line resource). (Pacif I Ecosyst Risk)
7. Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS) Australian plant common name database (on-line resource). (Aust Pl Common Names)
8. Jardin botanique national de Belgique Flore du Congo, du Rwanda et du Burundi (Flore d'Afrique centrale). 1967- (F Afr Centr)
9. Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2. 1953-1972 (F WT Afr)
10. Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium Hortus third. 1976 (Hortus 3)
11. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994 (Dict Rehm)
12. Wagner, W. L. et al. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawai'i. 1990 (F Hawaii)
13. Weber, E. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds. 2003 (Invasive Pl Spec)

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN-Taxonomy).
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL: http://germoplasma.iniaf.gob.bo/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=35209. Accessed 7 junio 2026.