Species Poinciana gilliesii

For Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy (1583–1660), French nobleman, bailiff Grand Cross of the Knights of Malta, patron of botany and French governor on St Kitts in the West Indies. He was sent to the Caribbean in 1638 and expanded his control to include St Croix, St Bartholomew and St Martin. The official website of the island of Martinique indicates he governed from 1639–1645 and from 1647–1660. In 1642 he started building an elaborate building, the Chateau de Montagne on his estate called La Fontaine, at the time one of the grandest ever constructed in the Americas. On the grounds he planted exotic tropical plants, including a specifically imported flamboyant plant from Madagascar which was named (or misnamed) Royal Poinciana in his honour.