Hummingbird Tree
Sesbania Grandifloria

days to maturity:
plant spacing: 1 plant per 20 square feet
sunlight requirements: 6-14 hours
look out for: worms in growing tips
harvest notes: harvest flowers when shaped like a crescent moon
seasons: spring, summer, fall
perennial

Hummingbird tree is quite a unique fast growing tree native to Southeast Asia that we only recently became acquainted with. A fellow plant nerd in Miami told stories of the trees beautiful and edible crescent moon shaped flowers, so we bought some seed online and went to work propagating it. We had a very hard time germinating our store bought seed but when we were gifted a handful of saved seed that were fresher we had quite successful germination right away. All parts of this fast growing tropical flood tolerant tree are edible or useful, making it popular with permaculture gardeners and flowering tree enthusiasts alike. 

There is very little information online about the Hummingbird tree, however there are two very thorough review of the plants particulars and culinary uses here:

http://www.eattheweeds.com/sesbania-grandifolia/

http://theindianvegan.blogspot.com/2014/01/all-about-agathi-sesbania-grandiflora.html

Hummingbird flowers and leaves contain high amounts of iron making the tree a popular wild food source in Laos, Thailand, India and the Phillipines where they grow wild and flower profusely during the rainy season. We are particularly intrigued by the use of the flowers to make a "blossom fritter" with chickpea and rice flower, nigella seeds, baking powder, sugar and salt. In addition to its culinary uses, Hummingbird tree is a leguminous tree, meaning it will fix nitrogen in the garden, however beware its potential size... when grown in the tropics it can reach up to 30 feet (size can be controlled with pruning).