Family: Bignoniaceae
A large deciduous tree with an irregular, oval-shaped crown. Palmately compound leaflets have a silvery hue, hence the common name silver trumpet tree. Bright yellow trumpet-shaped flowers grow in terminal bunches. Blooming is sporadic throughout the year. Before flowering begins, the leaves dropped. The effect is a dramatic display of bare branches laden with golden blooms. The leaves return as the flowers fade. George Stapels described the corky, thick bark as an excellent place to grow epiphytic orchids, although he warns about too much sun on the epiphytes with a bare canopy.
Native to dry areas in Brasil, It is an essential medicinal tree. They call it a ‘cure-all.’ Silver trumpet tree is widely cultivated in Brasil and other tropical places. A perfect xeriscape tree, silver trumpet thrives in the leeward sides of the islands. Many were planted in O’ahu during the early 1990s.
Plant Uses:
- Lei flower
- Medicinal
- Ornamental
- Privacy / screening
- Shade
- Specimen
Plant Dangers:
- No dangers
High Risk Traits:
- Naturalized beyond native range (disturbed sites in Florida, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and O'ahu)
- Congeneric species (Tabebuia heterophylla) is invasive elsewhere
- Can establish in disturbed habitats
- Wind-dispersed seeds
Low Risk Traits:
- No spines, thorns, or burrs
- Not allelopathic, parasitic, or toxic to animals or humans
- Not shade tolerant (requires full sun)
- Narrow soil pH tolerance (neutral to mildly alkaline) and prefers well-drained sandy soils
- Requires insect pollinators (bees), but not specialist-dependent
- Self-incompatible but produces viable seeds
- No evidence of vegetative fragmentation or seed dispersal by water, birds, other animals, or gut passage
- Low seed production (relatively large seeds, not prolific)
- Slow growth rate; minimum generative time ~4+ years
- No evidence of agricultural/forestry/horticultural or environmental weed status
