Brazilian firetree

Schizolobium parahyba, the Brazilian firetree or guapuruvu, is a very large, exceptionally fast-growing deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae, native to the Atlantic Forest and adjacent regions of tropical America from southern Mexico to southern Brazil. It can reach 20 to 30 metres or more in height, with a tall, straight, cylindrical trunk, smooth greenish-grey bark and a high, open, umbrella-shaped crown. Young trees have enormous, bipinnately compound leaves up to a metre or more long, with numerous pinnae each bearing many small oblong leaflets, giving a fern-like or palm-like aspect. When leafless in the dry season the tree produces masses of showy bright yellow flowers in large erect terminal panicles, making it conspicuous in the landscape. The fruit is a flattened, spatulate, woody pod that splits to release a single large winged seed embedded in a papery membrane. The lightweight, soft timber is used locally for canoes, boxes and pulp, and the tree is widely planted for ornament, shade and reforestation.