The Yellow Flame is native to India and Sri Lanka, through Southeast Asia, including Singapore, to Northern Australia. It grows naturally on rocky, sandy shores and back mangroves.

It is a deciduous tree that can grow up to 35 m in height. It has a wide-spreading, umbrella-shaped crown and slightly rough light grey bark. Its leaves are bi-pinnate with many tiny leaflets. It produces bright yellow blooms which are about 3 cm in size and occur in bunches. Its fruit is a pod that is 5 to 10 cm long and ripens to a purplish brown colour.

It is considered Critically Endangered in the wild in Singapore. However, it is widely planted along roadsides for its wide, shade-providing crown, and bright yellow blooms, which occasionally cover the entire tree.

In Java, the bark yields a yellow-brown dye that is used in batik. The bark is also reportedly used to treat dysentery and relieve sprains and muscle aches.

This Heritage Yellow Flame measured 4.8 m in girth when endorsed as a Heritage Tree in 2019. It is estimated to have stood here for more than 70 years.