Calliandra surinamensis

Pink powder puff is a shrub or a small tree with a dense crown of many thin stems; it usually grows up to 2.5 meters tall, but can reach 5 meters. It has silky leaflets that are glossy copper when new, turning to a dark metallic green. The flowers are short lived and sticky and combined with their quantity give this plant a reputation for making a mess especially on vehicles parked under it.
BARK: thin, medium, green, grey, brown, branches droop; not showy; typically, multi-trunked; thorns.
LEAVES: bi- pinnate, oblong leaves and axillary, compound, each pair of leaflets, or pinnae, are in turn divided into about six pairs of leaflets, pinnules.
FLOWERS: showy pink flowers, like a powder puff, pleasant fragrance, globose heads with small green petals and calyx with up to a 100 stamens more or less united into a tube. The stamens are long, hair-like, colorful and protrude well beyond the petals.  C. surinamensis  flowers all year round with definite more prolific periods.
FRUIT: flat pod, 4 centimeters (1.5 in) long pod, first becomes green then becomes brown, contain 5-6 seeds, hard fruit cover, it curls open to release the brown seeds.

Agroforestry: the plant responds well to trimming and can be grown as a hedge, has an extensive root for binding the soil.
An ornamental tee.
Can be used for buffer strips around parking lots or for median strip plantings in the highway.

Calliandra surinamensis is a low branching evergreen tropical shrub that is native to Suriname. Its growth habit is sprawling yet the foliage is dense enough to give it a full appearance. It grows fast in well drained sandy soils and full sun. In Kampala, Calliandra surinamensis is located along Upper kololo terrace, Nakasero road and within Mitchel hall premises, Makerere University among other places.

It is a fast growing tree. With rapid growth in sandy soils and full sun, powder puff bush will respond favorably to regular watering while young but should require no special care once established. Pruning can also be done. The plant responds well to trimming and can be grown as a hedge.