Virginia Tech Dendrology

Caribbean trumpet-tree Bignoniaceae Tabebuia aurea (Manso) Benth. & Hook. f. ex S. Moore symbol: TAAU2
Leaf: Opposite or subopposite, palmately compound with 5 or 7 leaflets; each leaflet 4 to 7 inches long, narrowly elliptical, borne on long petiolules, yellow-green to blue-green and covered with silvery-shiny scales.
Flower: Species is monoecious; very showy, bright yellow, bell-shaped, 3 inches long; appear in very showy pom-pom like terminal clusters to 8 inches long; flowering starts with leaf fall in the dry season.
Fruit: Flattened bean-like hanging capsules to 6 inches long, very stiff; each capsule contains numerous flattened seeds with 2-papery wings.
Twig: Stout, gray-brown with brown buds.
Bark: Gray-brown, irregularly ridged and becoming corky.
Form: A small tree with an irregular crown to 30 feet tall.

Additional Range Information: Tabebuia aurea is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database - USDAFS Forest Products Lab
All material 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information