Located at the entrace of our Hotel, Handroanthus chrysotrichus, (synonym Tabebuia chrysotricha), commonly known as the Golden Trumpet Tree, is a semi-evergreen/semi-deciduous (shedding foliage for a short period in late spring) tree from Brazil and Argentina. In Portuguese it is called ipê amarelo and its flower is considered the national flower of Brazil.

Handroanthus chrysotrichus grows to a height of 5 to 8 m (15 to 25 ft), sometimes up to 20 m (50 ft), with a spread of 8 to 11 m (25 to 35 ft). It has very showy golden-yellow to red flowers in the spring. These are rich in nectar and thus the tree is a useful honey plant. While it is not especially popular with hummingbirds, some of these – e.g. glittering-bellied emerald (Chlorostilbon lucidus) and white-throated hummingbird (Leucochloris albicollis) – seem to prefer them over the flowers of other Tabebuia species

The Golden Trumpet Tree is native to the coastal forests of Southern Brazil and northern Argentina, where it is known as “Ipe Amarelo”. The Ipe wood from all trees in its genus, Handroanthus, is extremely valuable, because it is extremely dense and resistant to rot.

Its botanical name is Handroanthus chrysotrichus. The genus name, Handroanthus, honors the 20th-century Brazilian botanist, Oswaldo Handro—combining his last name with the Latin word for flower, “athos”. The specific epithet is derived from the Greek words “chrysos” (meaning “gold”) and “thrix” (meaning “hair”) and refers to the pubescence on the calyxes (the outer protective covering at the base of each flower).Its botanical name was previously Tabebuia chrysotricha, which was changed in 2007 after analysis of its DNA and those of closely related species.

The Golden Trumpet Tree prefers hot areas with full sun that are protected from frost. Since it is native to tropical areas, it is damaged by temperatures below 25 degrees. It does best in sandy loam soil but can tolerate other soils, provided there is good drainage. It is moderately drought-tolerant but will look much better with irrigation in the dry season.

Flowering time

Spring

Stem and leaves

The leaves of saplings and mature trees have five leaflets that spread from the same point like the fingers of a hand (i.e. they are palmately compound). Each of these leaflets is borne on a stalk up to 7 cm long and is oblong or oval in shape (2-115cm long and 1-5.5cm wide) with rounded or shortly pointed tips. They are entire or slightly toothed near their tips, and are also covered in golden-yellow coloured hairs when young. However, young seedlings initially have simple leaves with obviously toothed margins and older seedlings have leaves with threeleaflets. The leaves of adult trees are shed during winter.

Flowers and fruits

The attractive flowers are produced in abundance in early spring, before the new leaves develop. They are arranged in dense clusters at the tips of the branches, with each flower being stalkless or borne on a stalk up to 5 mm long. These flowers are tubular in shape (4-7.5 cm long) and bright golden yellow in colour, with five shallow petal lobes and reddish lines present in the throat. The fruit is a long and slender capsule (10-40 cm long and 8-12 mm wide) which is brown and velvety in appearance due to a dense covering of rusty coloured hairs. Each fruit capsule contains large numbers of papery seeds with transparent wings on either side (6-9 mm long and 17-29 mm wide).