Schizolobium parahyba is a tree species from tropical America in the family Fabaceae

Fabaceae

The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...

. S. parahyba is a deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

 plant that can grow as fast as 3 meters per year, to reach up to 30 meters in height. It is typical of secondary rainforests. It is an indigenous plant of the Atlantic forest of Brazil. It is also found in Costa Rica in regions with a well defined dry season. Characterized by its straight trunk, young trees of 3-5 meters have enormous bipinnate leaves that sometimes exceed 2 meters in length, so many people confuse this tree with a fern or palm.