Pride of Burma

The extravagant flowers are seen hanging from the metre-long pendent inflorescence, or flower stalk, which is a bright crimson red at the end. There are 5 petals although 2 of these are minute and the rest are of unequal size. These petals are also crimson; the two medium-sized petals are yellow at the tip and the largest petal is broad and fan-shaped with a wavy upper margin and a yellow triangle of colour extending from the lip down into the flower. This large petal can reach 7.5 cm (3.0 in) long and over 4 cm (1.6 in) wide at the end. There are either 9 or 10 stamens, 9 of which are partially fused into a pink sheath; the stamens are of two differing lengths with the longer ones having larger anthers. The compound leaves bear six to eight large leaflets; these are broadly oblong in shape and are pallid underneath. The fruit, a legume, is a pod 11 to 20 cm (4.3 to 7.9 in) long. The pods are roughly scimitar-shaped, and the woody outer case opens to disperse the seeds.