Tabebuia

Tabebuia is a neotropical genus of about 100 species in the tribe Tecomeae of the family Bignoniaceae. The species range from northern Mexico and the Antilles south to northern Argentina, including the Caribbean islands of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Cuba. Well-known common names include Ipê, Poui, trumpet trees and pau d'arco.

They are large shrubs and trees growing to 5 to 50 m (16 to 160 ft) tall depending on the species; many species are dry-season deciduous but some are evergreen. The leaves are opposite pairs, complex or palmately compound with 3-7 leaflets.

Tabebuia is a notable flowering tree. The flowers are 3 to 11 cm (1 to 4 in) wide and are produced in dense clusters. They present a cupular calyx campanulate to tubular, truncate, bilabiate or 5-lobed. Corolla colors vary between species ranging from white, light pink, yellow, lavender, magenta, or red. The outside texture of the flower tube is either glabrous or pubescent.

The fruit is a dehiscent pod, 10 to 50 cm (4 to 20 in) long, containing numerous - in some species winged - seeds. These pods often remain on the tree through dry season until the beginning of the rainy season.


USES
Species in this genus are important as timber trees. The wood is used for furniture, decking, and other outdoor uses. It has a fire rating of A1 (the highest possible, the same as concrete), and is denser than water (it sinks). It is increasingly popular as a decking material due to its insect resistance and durability. By 2007, FSC-certified ipê wood had become readily available on the market, although certificates are occasionally forged.

Tabebuia is widely used as ornamental tree in the tropics in landscaping gardens, public squares and boulevards due to its impressive and colorful flowering. Many flowers appear on still leafless stems at the end of the dry season, making the floral display more conspicuous. They are useful as honey plants for bees, and are popular with certain hummingbirds. Naturalist Madhaviah Krishnan on the other hand once famously took offense at ipé grown in India, where it is not native.


Some species
Tabebuia alba is a tree native to Cerrado vegetation in Brazil. This plant is found in the following states of Brazil: Bahia, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo. It is used as a urban tree, and it is also used as a medicinal plant. Well-known and popular, it is one of the national plants of Brazil.

Tabebuia anafensis is a species of plant in the Bignoniaceae family. It is endemic to Cuba. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Tabebuia aurea is a species of Tabebuia native to South America in Suriname, Brazil, eastern Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, and northern Argentina, thus the common English name Caribbean Trumpet Tree is misleading. It is a small dry season-deciduous tree growing to 8 m tall. The leaves are palmately compound, with five or seven leaflets, each leaflet 6–18 cm long, green with silvery scales both above and below. The flowers are bright yellow, up to 6.5 cm diameter, produced several together in a loose panicle. The fruit is a slender 10 cm long capsule.
It is a popular ornamental tree is subtropical and tropical regions, grown for its spectacular flower display on leafless shoots at the end of the dry season.

Tabebuia bibracteolata is a species of plant in the Bignoniaceae family. It is endemic to Cuba.

Tabebuia cassinoides is a tree native to Atlantic Forest vegetation in Brazil. It is used as a timber tree to make pencils.

Tabebuia chrysantha (Araguaney or Yellow Ipê), known as cañaguate in northern Colombia, as tajibo in Bolivia, and as ipê-amarelo in Brazil, is a native tree of the intertropical broadleaf deciduous forests of South America above the Tropic of Capricorn. On May 29, 1948, Tabebuia chrysantha was declared National Tree of Venezuela since being an emblematic native species of extraordinary beauty. Its deep yellow resembles the one in Venezuelan flag.

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