Koelreuteria elegans

Koelreuteria elegans, more commonly known as flamegold rain tree[1] or Taiwanese rain tree, is a deciduous tree 15–17 metres tall endemic to Taiwan Island, Republic of China.[2][3][4] It is widely grown throughout the tropics and sub-tropical parts of the world as a street tree.

Koelreuteria elegans
Taiwanese rain tree with fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae
Genus: Koelreuteria
Species:
K. elegans
Binomial name
Koelreuteria elegans
Synonyms

Koelreuteria formosana Hayata
Koelreuteria henryi Dummer

It flowers in early to mid-summer. Flowers are small, to 20 mm in length, and occur in branched clusters at the stem tips. They are butter-yellow with five petals that vary in length until opening. Each flower contains seven to eight pale yellow stamens with hairy white filaments.

The fruit is a brown-purplish three-lobed capsule that splits to reveal a number of black seeds.

It is a declared weed in many parts of the world, particularly Brisbane, Australia[5] and in Hawaii.

Flowers of K. elegans
Fruit of K. elegans

References
  1. "Koelreuteria elegans". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  2. Huang, Tseng-chieng, ed. (1996). "Sapindaceae". Flora of Taiwan. 2 (2nd ed.). Taipei, Taiwan: Editorial Committee of the Flora of Taiwan, Second Edition. p. 588. ISBN 957-9019-52-5. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  3. Nianhe Xia; Paul A. Gadek. "Koelreuteria elegans". Flora of China. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  4. K. T. Shao (ed.). "Koelreuteria henryi Dummer, 1912". Catalogue of life in Taiwan. Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  5. "Weed Management Guide: Chinese rain tree – Koelreuteria elegans ssp. formosana" (PDF). CRC for Australian Weed Management. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-01.
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