African Tulip Tree bloom.

An African Tulip Tree at the Third Street park between Broad Street and 11th Avenue South in downtown Naples.

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Because it’s one of two extremely small climate zones in the U.S., Naples is more likely to become a home to plants from other countries than from other states.

One of them is the tropical-climate African Tulip Tree, which grows to from 60 to 80 feet high on its native continent. It also likes the weather in Naples, where Jim Bixler, director for the container gardens of Third Street South, spotted one at the Third Street park between Broad Street and 11th Avenue South. Bixler has one at his North Naples home that hasn’t hit the 60-foot mark yet — "but I’ve seen them that large here," he attests.

African Tulip Tree is rarely seen but works well as a specimen flowering tree or as a major shade tree in Zone 10 because of its wide canopy, according to Floridataa, an online photographic encyclopedia of landscape plant and nature reference. From Master Gardener Landscaping of Fort Lauderdale comes the information that the flame-colored flowers are also known as:

• Fire Tree

• Flame of the Forest

• Fountain Tree

African Tulip Tree loves rich soil, but will grow in any medium with some fertility. It is not a beachfront plant, but will weather some salinity.

Name: African Tulip Tree (Spathodea campanulata); another variety, Spathodea campanulata ‘aurea’, has flowers that vary from yellow to orange and is a smaller tree

Origin: West Kenya and Uganda

Description: An evergreen with large leathery olive-green leaves, intermittent flowering ofsoftball-sized, bell-shaped orange-red blooms, and seedpods following

Size: 60 to 80 feet

Needs: Full sun in a large space with fertile soil

Problems: Brittle wood — it’s a relative of the Tabebuia tree — which means they’re vulnerable to windstorms

Do you have a plant or a tree you’ve seen or have and like to know more about, or perhaps just want to show off? Send a photo and information about where the plant is to: homes@naplesnews.com, or by mail to At Home Editor, Naples Daily News, 1075 Central Ave., Naples, FL 34102