Goldenrain Tree
Koelreuteria paniculata · Deciduous Broadleaf Hardwood
Plant Family
Sapindaceae
Tree Category
Ornamental Flowering Shade Tree
Variety / Cultivar
Common species (standard type)
Hardiness Zones
USDA Zones 5-9; highly tolerant of heat, wind, urban pollution, and varying pH levels.
About This Tree
A small to medium-sized deciduous tree with a distinctive rounded, spreading crown. Often low-branching with an airy appearance. It is most famous for its large, upright panicles of bright yellow flowers followed by papery, lantern-like seed pods.
Leaf Characteristics
Pinnately or bipinnately compound, 7-15 inches long, with 7-15 leaflets. Leaflets are ovate to oblong with irregularly lobed or serrated margins. Emerging pinkish-bronze, turning emerald green in summer, and yellow in autumn.
Bark Characteristics
Light gray-brown and relatively smooth when young, becoming increasingly furrowed into flat-topped ridges and shallow fissures with age. Often develops an orange-brown inner bark visible in the cracks.
Growing Information
Origin Region
Native to Eastern Asia (China, Korea). Naturalized and widely adapted in temperate North America and Europe.
Growing Season
Leafs out in late spring (often bronze/pinkish); flowers in early to mid-summer (July); fruit capsules ripen in late summer to autumn; enters dormancy in late fall after leaves turn yellow.
Sunlight & Water Needs
Requires full sun for best flowering. Highly adaptable to various soil types; needs moderate water during establishment but becomes highly drought-tolerant once mature; avoids wet, poorly drained soils.
Mature Size
Reaches 30-40 feet in height and spread. Growth rate is moderate to fast (1-2 feet per year), with a lifespan of 50-75 years.
Special Characteristics
Produces unique 2-inch 'lantern' seed capsules; one of the few trees to flower in mid-summer. Known for urban resilience but can be invasive in certain warmer climates due to self-seeding.
Wildlife & Ecology
Attracts bees and other pollinators with its nectar-rich summer blooms. Birds occasionally feed on the seeds within the dried pods. Provides light shade canopy for understory plants.