GOLDEN RAIN TREE SEED KOELREUTERIA PANICULATA
LATIN NAME: Koelreuteria paniculata
COMMON NAME: Golden Rain Tree, Pride of India, China Tree
The golden rain tree is a cheerful and colourful tree of the late summer garden, and its clouds of golden bloom and papery lanterns are a lovely sight. It grows as a small to medium-sized, deciduous tree, reaching up to fifteen metres, with a rounded crown of pinnate leaves and, in late summer, great, loose panicles of many small, bright golden-yellow flowers, which give the tree its name and cover the crown in a golden cloud, followed by the remarkable clusters of small, papery, lantern-like fruits, which turn from green to pink and brown and hang on the tree through the autumn. It is a species native to China, Korea and Manchuria, and it has been introduced to Europe, North America and Japan, where it has become a popular landscape tree.
The golden rain tree belongs to the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, and it is a species of flowering plant native to China, Korea and Manchuria. It was naturalized in Japan since at least the 1200s, and it was introduced to Europe in 1747 and to North America in 1763, and it has become a popular landscape tree.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The golden rain tree has a genuine and growing place in both horticultural and botanical research. It has been studied in horticulture, since it is a cheerful and popular landscape tree, prized for its golden cloud of late-summer bloom, its papery lantern-like fruits and its toughness, and researchers have examined its cultivation, its growth and its value in the garden and along the streets, while it has been widely planted in towns and parks, and its long history of introduction to Europe and North America has been examined. The tree has also been studied in botany, since it is a member of the soapberry family, and researchers have examined its classification and its relationships, while its papery fruits have been studied for their form. The species has also been studied in ecology, since it is a native of China and Korea and it has become established in other regions. For a tree of such golden bloom, the golden rain tree has a rich and growing record of research.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Ecologically, the golden rain tree is a generous tree of the late summer garden. Its golden flowers feed bees and other pollinators, and its papery lanterns and seeds feed wildlife, while it brings a golden cloud to the garden and the street.
Its economic value is real. It is a popular landscape tree, prized for its golden bloom and its toughness, and it is widely planted in gardens, along streets and in parks, while its handsome form and its long season of interest have made it a valued tree of the nursery trade. For a grower, the golden rain tree is an easy and rewarding tree, and for a gardener it brings a golden cloud of bloom and papery lanterns in the autumn. The seeds are easy — soak them overnight in warm water, then sow them in a pot of moist, free-draining compost, keep them in a sunny spot and water them gently, and they’ll sprout within a couple of weeks, growing on into a cheerful, golden-flowered tree.
Golden rain tree is one of the few trees to flower in mid-Summer, Golden Rain Tree is a fast growing, extremely tough deciduous specimen tree native to China. It has a nice round form often growing to a mature height of 30' by 30'. When in bloom, is literally loaded with long one foot showy panicles of bright yellow flowers.