Koelreuteria

Koelreuteria is a genus of three species in the family Sapindaceae, native to southern and eastern Asia.

They are medium-sized deciduous trees growing to 10-20 m tall, with spirally arranged pinnate or bipinnate leaves. The flowers are small and yellow, produced in large branched panicles 20-50 cm long. The fruit is a three-lobed inflated papery capsule 3-6 cm long, containing several hard nut-like seeds 5-10 mm diameter.


USES
Koelreuteria trees are commonly used as focal points in landscape design in regions where they thrive. In some areas, notably parts of eastern North America, they have become invasive species.


Species
Koelreuteria paniculata (Goldenrain tree, Pride of India, or China tree) is a species of Koelreuteria native to eastern Asia, in China and Korea. It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 17 m tall, with a broad, dome-shaped crown.
The flowers are yellow, with four petals, growing in large terminal panicles 20-40 cm 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 black seeds 5-8 mm diameter.

Koelreuteria elegans, more commonly known as the Chinese Rain Tree is a deciduous tree to 15-20 metres native to Taiwan and southern China. It is widely grown throughout the tropics and sub-tropical parts of the world as a street tree.
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 and in Hawaii.

Koelreuteria bipinnata

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