Thursday, October 31, 2013

GOLDEN RAIN TREE-KOELREUTERIA PANICULATA- (GREAT FALL COLOR IN TEXAS PHOTO BLOG)

Hi Everybody!!
Down here in South Texas, we just do not get the golden panoramas of Autumn Leaves as they do in Northern America, Canada and Europe. Most of our leaves go from green to dead and blow off the trees. There is a bright and shining spotlight on one tree: Koelreuteria Paniculata or Golden Rain Tree. This tree flowers around the autumnal equinox, millions of tiny yellow flowers. The show is just beginning for as the fall progresses the little yellow flowers grow into colorful deep pink seed pods.
Below I have shared the link to your extended photostudy and info from Wikipedia about the Golden Raintree, my favorite Fall Tree in this area. Enjoy!

See your photostudy at the link below that takes you directly to this album over at my G+ Photo Album Gallery:
link:
https://plus.google.com/photos/117645114459863049265/albums/5939433919849371665

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koelreuteria_paniculata

Koelreuteria paniculata

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Koelreuteria paniculata is a species of flowering plant in the family Sapindaceae, nativeto eastern Asia, in China and Korea. Common names include goldenrain tree,^[1]^[2]pride of India,^[3] China tree,^[4] or varnish tree.^[2]

It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 7 m (23 ft) tall, with a broad, dome-shaped crown. The leaves are pinnate, 15–40 cm (6–16 in) long, rarely to 50 cm (20 in), with 7-15 leaflets 3–8 cm long, with a deeply serrated margin; the larger leaflets at the midpoint of the leaf are sometimes themselves pinnate but the leaves are not consistently fully bipinnate as in the related Koelreuteria bipinnata.

The flowers are yellow, with four petals, growing in large terminal panicles 20–40 cm (8–16 in) long. The fruit is a three-parted inflated bladderlike pod 3–6 cm long and 2–4 cm broad, green ripening orange to pink in autumn, containing several dark brown to blackseeds 5–8 mm diameter.

Koelreuteria paniculata

Foliage and flowers of var. apiculata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Sapindaceae
Genus:	Koelreuteria
Species:	K. paniculata
Binomial name
*Koelreuteria paniculata* Laxm.

Leaf of var. paniculata

K. paniculata var. apiculata (Rehder & E.H.Wilson) Rehder (syn. K. apiculata). Western China (Sichuan), intergrading with var. paniculata in central China. Leaves with larger leaflets commonly bipinnate.

Cultivation[edit]

It is popularly grown as an ornamental tree in temperate regions all across the world because of the aesthetic appeal of its flowers, leaves and seed pods. Several cultivarshave been selected for garden planting, including 'Fastigiata' with a narrow crown, and 'September Gold', flowering in late summer.

The seeds are edible when roasted, but not commonly consumed.

In some areas, notably the eastern United States and particularly in Florida, it is considered an invasive species.

FROM THE GOOGLE SEARCH INDEX
(EXCERPT-SEE LINK FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE):

Golden rain tree | Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants

plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/650‎

http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/650

Introduction

Taiwan native, Koelreuteria elegans,is a very popular landscape tree because of its colorful petals and rose colored fruit capsules. Even though this tree is loved and valued by many, we cannot ignore the invasive characteristics that initiated its appointment as a Category II exotic invasive. Koelreuteria is a fast growing plant that is able to grow in an array of environmental conditions.