Bird of Paradise

The Yellow Bird of Paradise is a beautiful shrub that grows here in the Chihuahuan Desert. It can be easily groomed into a tree. The spectacular flowers that erupt in May often completely cover the plant, their yellow blossoms punctuated by brilliant red stamens. The flowers last nearly all summer. The seed pods begin exploding around the Fourth of July, ejecting their seeds--often quite forcefully--into the surrounding territory. The small, flat brown seeds are toxic. Because of their toxicity we here at COC have had to remove almost all the Yellow Bird of Paradise shrubs from the grounds. Research Associate Becca has an insatiable appetite, and will literally consume almost anthing. I won't go into detail, but her indiscriminate gustatory behavior has turned many a stomach around here.