Common Name: tabebuia
Type: Broadleaf evergreen
Family: Bignoniaceae
Native Range: Mexico to Colombia and northern Venezula
Zone: 9 to 11
Height: 60.00 to 90.00 feet
Spread: 30.00 to 50.00 feet
Bloom Time: Seasonal bloomer
Bloom Description: Purplish-pink to white with yellow throat
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Shade Tree, Street Tree
Flower: Showy
Leaf: Evergreen
Fruit: Showy
Other: Winter Interest
Culture
Winter hardy to USDA Zones 9-11 where it is best grown in deep, fertile, moist, well-drained soils in full sun. Propagate by seed, cuttings or air layers.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Tabebuia rosea, commonly called pink trumpet, rosy trumpet tree or pink poui, is an evergreen (usually considered deciduous in climates with a dry season) tree with a long, smooth trunk topped by a rounded spreading crown. It typically matures in the wild to 60-90' tall and to 30-50' wide, but usually grows shorter in cultivation. It is native from Mexico through Central America to Venezuela and Ecuador. It is best noted for its often spectacular bloom of showy, trumpet-shaped, purplish-pink to white flowers (2-4" long) with yellow throats which bloom in clusters (up to 30 flowers per cluster) at various times during the year. Bloom schedule in part depends upon the climate where the tree grows. In climates with a distinct dry season (e.g., March - May), the leaves of this tree will typically drop at the beginning of that dry season. The dry conditions subsequently trigger a mass bloom near the end of the dry season when the tree branches are still bare but the rains have begun to fall. In climates where rains occur throughout the year (no dry season), flowers tend to bloom intermittently through much of the year in smaller but more frequent bursts of bloom. Flowers are followed by bean-like pods (8-12" long). Each palmate leaf has five, leathery, scaly, elliptic to elliptic-oblong, toothless, medium to dark green leaflets (central one to 12" long) with undulate margins. Rosy trumpet tree is the National Tree of El Salvador. It is an important timber tree in Mexico and Central America.
Synonymous with and formerly known as Tabebuia pentaphylla.
Genus name comes from the native Brazilian name tabebuia or taiaveruia.
Specific epithet means rose-colored.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Leaf spot and dieback may occur. Watch for spider mites.
Uses
Where winter hardy, this flowering tree is commonly planted as a lawn specimen. Also useful as a shade tree of street tree.