Meanings
plural poincianas
- A tropical tree, of species Delonix regia, with bright red flowers, native to Madagascar and now widely cultivated as an ornamental; the royal poinciana or flamboyant.
[I]n disturbed areas, like East Point, exotic trees like poinciana and "coffee bush" invade the edges.
1987, Hilary Thompson, Common Birds of the Darwin Area, Winnellie: Sandpiper Productions, page vii - A tropical shrub, Caesalpinia pulcherrima, with bright orange-red flowers, originally native to the Americas and now widely cultivated as an ornamental.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna tropical flowering shrub having bright orange or red flowers; sometimes placed in genus Poinciana
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Modern Latin: after M. de Poinci, a 17th-century governor of the Antilles + -ana.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with poinciana
Cite this entry
poinciana. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poinciana
“poinciana.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poinciana. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “poinciana,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poinciana.
Source: poinciana on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.