About Amherstia nobilis Wall.
This species, Amherstia nobilis Wall., produces showy, extravagant flowers that hang from one-meter-long pendent inflorescences (flower stalks), which are bright crimson red at their tip. Each flower has 5 petals, of which 2 are very small and the remaining three are unequal in size. All petals are also crimson; the two medium-sized petals are yellow at their tip, and the largest petal is broad and fan-shaped with a wavy upper margin, with a yellow triangular patch of color extending from the lip down into the flower. This large petal can grow up to 7.5 cm (3.0 in) long and over 4 cm (1.6 in) wide at its end. Each flower has either 9 or 10 stamens; 9 of these are partially fused into a pink sheath, and the stamens come in two different lengths, with longer stamens having larger anthers. The compound leaves hold between six and eight large leaflets, which are broadly oblong in shape and pale on their undersurface. The fruit is a legume pod 11 to 20 cm (4.3 to 7.9 in) long, roughly shaped like a scimitar. The woody outer casing of the pod opens to release its seeds.
