Barbados in Bloom: Allamanda

A determined climber and one of the most popular flowers in Barbadian gardens is the Allamanda. Although a native to Brazil, the Allamnada was brought to Barbados and now screams its yellow buttercup shaped flowers all over the island. The Allamanda is a woody evergreen vine, with a milky sap, often pruned to grow as a shrub can grow up to 15 feet tall. The leaves are leathery and glossy, lance-shaped or elliptical, opposite or sometimes in whorls of 3 or 4, measuring up to 6 inches long. The flowers, clustered near the ends of the branches, are yellow, very showy, waxy, trumpet shaped, with 5 flaring petal lobes, measuring 2 to 4 inches across. The main flowering season is summer and fall, but produces flowers throughout the year.