golden rain tree imposter?

does anyone know of how many varieties there are of the rain tree ? I bought one years ago maybe 7years, and I dont know if its because its in a poor area or a different variety then that of what I know, blossoms are very small, they are yellow and draping but at least a 1/3 1/4 of the size of the ones I have seen, I didn't get a picture of them they are so small and tree is still small about 10feet x 8 ft wide, but I always some how miss when its blooming or just see the end of its bloom. and its seeds are black hard shell seeds, not the winged type. Leaves are same as regular rain tree..

I know of five: Laburnum anagryoides, Laburnum alpinum, Laburnum alpinum 'Pendula', Laburnum vossii and Laburnum x watereri 'Vossii". The DG plant files have a couple more cultivars of Vossii.

Check the DG plant files and see if you can sort them out and compare to what you have.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/search.php?q=laburnum&Search=Search+PlantFiles

As far as I know there are three.There may be others. I know of Koelreuteria bipinnata,(Chinese Flame Tree),Koelreuteria elegans and Koelreuteria paniculata (The goldenrain with the beautiful pannicles of flowers).The paniculata is not a fast grower,but it sounds as if your tree might be happier in a different spot.
Lynn

Snapple posted as I was typing.Perhaps the common name rain tree has us looking at 2 different trees.


This message was edited Jul 28, 2008 6:22 PM

Ibrabec has it; Laburnum is Laburnum, not Rain Tree.

Of the three Koelreuteria species, only K. paniculata is hardy in zone 7, the other two are only 8/9 hardy.

Resin

We call Laburnum Golden CHAIN Tree, b/c of the chains of flowers; a Rain Tree is something entirely different.
Samantha

Yes,Golden Chain is entirely different than Golden Rain Tree,of which paniculata is the only one hardy here in 5a.And Resin,thank you for the backup.I thought there were only 3 species of Koelreuteria,but I was not entirely sure.
Regardless of the species,the tree does not sound happy where it is located.

Lynn

Oh My! Rain - Chain. Not the same certainly.

From reading her description of the blooms being "yellow and draping", I suspect Megan's tree is a Laburnum not a Koelreuteria. A number of Laburnum species/cultivars in Plant Files are listed as only getting 12-15 ft high, so being 10 ft tall now sounds like it's within the normal range for a tree that's only 7-ish years old.

No, and they do not belong to the same family and do not grow the same at all.I think megano24 should really look at pictures and confirm which is the correct plant in order to fix it's current problems. Lynn

Ecrane,your post came up before I was finished typing,I suspect you are correct.

This message was edited Jul 28, 2008 10:41 PM

THanks everyone you've given me directions to go from here. I'll let you know what the mistery plant turns out to be !! I will have to keep it in it's current place, I would be unable to move it. Unless it went into the wood chipper, But it's actually attractive so I would not do that to the poor thing, I think I got it at a local flea market and they probably guessed at what they had. I've only seen 2 around here there not common. But I thought the leaves had the right look to them for a rain tree. Oh well we live and we learn...

I have a koelreutia bipinnata growing happily in Zone 6a.
At least it was sold to me as a bipinnata...
If the real bipinnata isn't hardy north of Zone 8, then I don't know what I've got.
Whatever it is, it doesn't flower as nicely as the more common paniculata.

Megan--can you take a picture of your leaves? Laburnum and Koelreuteria should look different enough with just the leaves that someone could tell you which one you have.

Weerobin - can you post a photo of the leaves on yours as well, please?

Resin

I'll try, Resin, but may need a ladder.
Sadly, I'm a working bloke, so won't be until this weekend.

Well because all of everyone help I have got it down to being a Koelreuteria, Laburnum leaves are very different , this is based on the plant files I looked at. Laburnum is the one I was looking for, oh well ! Hope fully we will get out of the drought we have been in for the last 2 years, that would help it a lot. and each spring it always gets frost damage, I think thats why it has always had very few blooms in the spring.. thanks for everyones help..

Her in North America(lots of summer heat in most areas) K. bipinnata does indeed grow into zone 6. There are several in zone 6 locations(arboretums and private gardens) around the US.

Resin, here are your photo's of my koelreutia bipinnata leaves.
Or at least what I think is koelreutia bipinnata.
What do you think?

Thanks!

Not sure; Koelreuteria bipinnata has regularly serrated leaflets*, and yours has ±entire leaflets with a somewhat wavy margin. Any flowers or fruit on it?

Resin

* Compare e.g. http://www.smpl.org/MainLibraryLandscaping/Landscaping%20Images/Chinese%20Flame%20Tree%20SM.JPG

It hasn't flowered yet for me. I think it's too crowded / not enough sun.
It's approx 8m tall and is probably 7-8 yrs old, so I don't get the impression it's ever going to do much.
I was comparing w/ leaf drawing in Dirr and thought my leaves looked similar. It was just a drawing, but no serration.
He reports common name is bougainvillia (sp?) koelreutia.
Mine is definitely alternate leaves; I couldn't tell in your linked photo if alternate or opposite.
Some areas looked alternate, some looked opposite.
If it ever flowers, I'll know for sure. I pruned off a branchlet for closer look at leaves (below).

And I notice that many of the leaves have small leaflets almost like thumbs.
I don't know if this feature is helpful for identification or not.

I can see clear serrations along the leaflets in the second from the last photo, as well as some leaflets in the first photo. Your photos look like typical K. bipinnata to me and definitely are not K. paniculata. The leaflet arrangement looks like Koelreuteria to me too, but it's hard to be 100% via the internet.

Thanks for your help.
Now, only if it would ever flower...

For those of you holding your breath to see if my koelreuteria bipinnata ever flowered ... Voila!
These shots are from yesterday - certainly blooms late.

Here's another shot. It's quite floriferous.
The pictures aren't the best, since it's a tall tree and I have to use my zoom!

Seed pods have a distinctly pink color.