White trumpet tree

Description

Tabebuia pallida is a species of Tabebuia native to the Caribbean. Tabebuia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae. The common name "roble" is sometimes found in English. Tabebuias have been called "trumpet trees", but this name is usually applied to other trees and has become a source of confusion and misidentification. Tabebuia consists almost entirely of trees, but a few are often large shrubs. A few species produce timber, but the genus is mostly known for those that are cultivated as flowering trees. Tabebuia is native to the American tropics and subtropics from Mexico and the Caribbean to Argentina. Most of the species are from Cuba and Hispaniola. It is commonly cultivated and often naturalized or adventive beyond its natural range. It easily escapes cultivation because of its numerous, air-borne seeds. In 1992, a revision of Tabebuia described 99 species and one hybrid. Phylogenetic studies of DNA sequences later showed that Tabebuia, as then circumscribed, was polyphyletic. In 2007, it was divided into three separate genera. Primavera (Roseodendron donnell-smithii) and a related species with no unique common name (Roseodendron chryseum) were transferred to Roseodendron. Those species known as ipê and pau d'arco (in Portuguese) or poui were transferred to Handroanthus. Sixty-seven species remained in Tabebuia. The former genus and polyphyletic group of 99 species described by Gentry in 1992 is now usually referred to as Tabebuia sensu lato. The wood of Tabebuia is light to medium in weight. Tabebuia rosea (including T. pentaphylla) is an important timber tree of tropical America. Tabebuia heterophylla and Tabebuia angustata are the most important timber trees of some of the Caribbean islands. Their wood is of medium weight and is exceptionally durable in contact with salt water. The swamp species of Tabebuia have wood that is unusually light in weight. The most prominent example of these is Tabebuia cassinoides. Its roots produce a soft and spongy wood that is used for floats, razor strops, and the inner soles of shoes. In spite of its use for lumber, Tabebuia is best known as an ornamental flowering tree. Tabebuia aurea, Tabebuia rosea, Tabebuia pallida, Tabebuia berteroi, and Tabebuia heterophylla are cultivated throughout the tropics for their showy flowers. Tabebuia dubia, Tabebuia haemantha, Tabebuia obtusifolia, Tabebuia nodosa, and Tabebuia roseo alba are also known in cultivation and are sometimes locally abundant.