蘇木屬落葉灌木，原產西印度群島。枝直立，樹皮有刺。互生二回羽狀複葉，6~10對卵圓形小葉。總狀花序頂生，花形如蝴蝶。花色橘紅，花瓣邊緣黃色。花後易結刀形莢果。開花結果夏至秋季。

A deciduous shrub in the genus Caesalpinia, native to the West Indies. The plant grows erect branches and thorny bark. Alternate bipinnate compound leaves with 6 to 10 pairs of oval leaflets. Terminal racemes, butterfly-like flowers. Flowers are orange with yellow margin. Knife-shaped pods. Flowering and fruiting from summer to autumn.

全日照溫暖至高溫環境，冬季低溫會落葉休眠。春至秋季每季施用一次長效性肥料。冬季可進行強剪，能促進春季生長健壯的新枝於夏季開花。繁殖使用播種法。

Grown in full-sun, warm to hot climates. It usually sheds leaves and goes dormant in severe winter. Apply long-active fertilizers once every season from spring to autumn. Hard pruning in winter can promote the growth of new shoots in spring. Propagated by seeding.

植株高大，盆栽需使用盆徑一尺以上的容器種植。庭園栽培可單株修剪成橢圓形灌叢。因為枝幹上有銳刺，而且枝條硬挺豎直，很適合列植作為綠籬使用。清代即已引入臺灣栽培，在臺灣南部普遍種植。

The plant is tall and big, so better to plant in a container over one-foot diameter. If cultivated in gardens, it can be pruned as oval shaped shrubs. The plant grows stiff and erect branches with sharp thorns, so it’s suitable for row planting as hedge. It was introduced to Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty and widely cultivated in southern Taiwan.