Calliandra haematocephola or red powder puff is an evergreen shrub or small tree 4 - 5 metres, which will grow as wide as it is high. The compact leaves that fold up tightly at night are a rich shiny green that appear almost fern like.
The powder puff inforescence is made up of numerous individual flowers each containing numerous long and conspicuous stamen.
The plant originates from the tropical forests of South America and was first described in 1855 by Justus Carl Hasskarl (1811-1894) who collected plants in Peru and Bolivia in the early 1850s.
Calliandra are from the pea family and its name from the Greek "kalos'' meaning beautiful and "anero'' man referring to the prominence of the male stamen.