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TREE NUMBER 9.
PINK TRUMPET TREE
(Tabebuia palmeri)
The genus Tabebuia includes many species of ornamental trees, originally native to Central and South American countries.
Pink Trumpet Tree and its near relatives were introduced to tropical/sub-tropical Australian gardens over the last 50 years. They are appreciated for their relatively small size (8 to 12 metres) in our shrinking urban spaces and for their massed globular heads of pink, mauve or yellow flowers. These trees are ideal for both coastal and inland gardens and are tolerant of salty soils.
Plantings of street trees are equally impressive at flowering time, but these stand-alone trees in exposed strips of bitumen and concrete did not rate well in a survey of damage following Cyclone Marcia.
Flowering occurs after a typical Queensland dry (winter/spring) season leaf drop and often following storm rains.
Selective flower colour forms of Tabebuia and the closely related Handroanthus species have arisen by accidental crosses and probably deliberate breeding techniques. This has increased variety but made tracing individual trees back to origins difficult.
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