Common Name: golden rain tree
Type: Tree
Family: Sapindaceae
Native Range: Northern China, Korea, Japan
Zone: 5 to 9
Height: 30.00 to 40.00 feet
Spread: 30.00 to 40.00 feet
Bloom Time: June to July
Bloom Description: Yellow
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Shade Tree, Street Tree, Flowering Tree
Flower: Showy
Leaf: Good Fall
Fruit: Showy
Tolerate: Drought, Clay Soil, Air Pollution
Culture
Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soil in full sun. Adapts to a wide range of soils. Tolerates drought and many city air pollutants.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Koelreuteria paniculata, commonly called golden raintree, is a small, open-branching, irregularly-shaped, deciduous tree with a rounded crown which typically grows 30-40' tall and as wide. Features pinnate or bipinnate, feathery, compound leaves (to 18" long), each leaf having 7-17 irregularly lobed leaflets. Leaves emerge pinkish bronze to purplish in spring, mature to a bright green in summer and turn yellow (quality variable) in fall. Bright yellow flowers (1/2" wide) appear in early summer in long, terminal, panicles (12-15"). Falling blossoms may or may not resemble "golden rain", but the fallen blossoms often form an attractive golden carpet under the tree. Flowers give way to interesting, brown, papery seed capsules which somewhat resemble Chinese lanterns.
Genus name honors Joseph Gottlieb Koelreuter (1733-1806), professor of natural history at Karlsruhe, a pioneer experimental investigator of plant hybridization.
Specific epithet means in a panicle in reference to the floral inflorescence.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Some susceptibility to root rot, leaf spot and canker.
Uses
Small shade tree, street tree, lawns or terraces.