Golden trumpet tree

Description

Handroanthus albus, the golden trumpet tree, is a tree with yellow flowers native to Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and the Cerrado (tropical savannas) of Brazil, where it is known as ipê-amarelo-da-serra. This plant is found in the Brazilian states of Distrito Federal, where it's the states symbol, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Piauí, Amazonas, Pará and São Paulo. It is used as an urban tree. Well-known and popular, the tree and its flower are the national plants of Brazil. The name Handroanthus was established in 1970, but was not generally accepted. In 1992, its species were included in Tabebuia in the most recent revision of that genus.Handroanthus was resurrected in 2007 when a comparison of DNA sequences by cladistic methods showed that Tabebuia, as then circumscribed, was not monophyletic. Handroanthus are indigenous from Central America to northern Argentina, Paraguay and Chile, with one species, Handroanthus billbergii, native to northern South America and the Antilles. Handroanthus are frequently cultivated far from their natural range, as ornamental trees, for their large and showy flowers. They easily become naturalized where introduced because their seeds are prolifically produced and widely scattered by the wind.Several species are important timber trees of the American tropics. Medicinal use has been reported, but its efficacy and side effects have not been well studied. The nectar of Handroanthus flowers is an important food source for several species of bees and hummingbirds. Mycosphaerella tabebuiae, a plant pathogenic sac fungus was first discovered on a Handroanthus tree, known at that time as Tabebuia. The taxonomy of Mycosphaerella is in much confusion and the recognition of this name is questionable. The genus Handroanthus was erected by Joáo Rodrigues de Mattos in 1970. It was named for the Brazilian botanist Oswaldo Handro. "Anthus" is derived from a Greek word for "flower". Most botanists at that time did not agree with the separation of Handroanthus from Tabebuia. Alwyn H. Gentry objected strenuously and warned against "succumbing to further paroxysms of unwarranted splitting".