Schizolobium parahayba, Fern Tree, flowering

[Eric in Orlando]

Schizolobium parahyba, Fern Tree, is a legume tree native from southern Mexico to southeastern Brazil. They grow very fast the first 2-3 years to about 30 ft. During this time they are unbranched. They have huge pinnate leaves and resemble a tree fern. After they reach 30ft they begin to branch and form a high canopied tree. Two of our trees at Leu Gardens are flowering for the first time.

This first tree was planted in 2005 and is about 35ft tall.

The tree with the large leaves to the right is a Cecropia peltata, another fast growing rainforest tree

[Eric in Orlando]

[Eric in Orlando]

The 2nd tree tree was planted in 2002. By 2004 it was nearly 30ft tall but in Aug. 2004 Hurricane Charley broke it off. We cut the trunk to about 4ft tall and since then it has grown back to almost 40ft. tall

[Peter]

Very nice Eric!

[gsytch]

How would this do in New Port Richey? I am coastal. A tall fast tree would be great for ANY SHADE but how cold hardy? Wind? Curious, as it is beautiful. Greg

[Gonzer]

Eric, nice trees. Here's my beast before being cut down last July. About 12 years in the ground.

[Jeff in St Pete]

Eric, thanks for the photos. Love to see these trees in bloom.

In pic #1, I didn't realize that Cecropia would grow so well in Central Florida. That was a big surprise for me!

[fastfeat]

  On 5/14/2012 at 9:21 PM, gsytch said:

How would this do in New Port Richey? I am coastal. A tall fast tree would be great for ANY SHADE but how cold hardy? Wind? Curious, as it is beautiful. Greg

Probably fine in NPR if you're near the coast. If you can grow foxtail or royal palms, you'll be fine.

But remember that these are pioneering trees that are best considered as temporary trees, especially near buildings. They're very soft-wooded and break apart readily in tropical storms. (Wood toughens up more in SoCal where they're not exposed to as much water.)

[peachy]

Mine flower very profusely each spring. They are amazingly cold hardy, surviving -5c with frost, with no damage whatsoever. I find them to be a perfect canopy tree, keeping their leaves over winter and dropping them at the beginning of spring, although they do make a mess at this time. Here is a photo of one of mine with a Grevillea robusta at the rear.

Peachy

[Eric in Orlando]

  On 5/15/2012 at 12:05 AM, fastfeat said:

  On 5/14/2012 at 9:21 PM, gsytch said:

How would this do in New Port Richey? I am coastal. A tall fast tree would be great for ANY SHADE but how cold hardy? Wind? Curious, as it is beautiful. Greg

Probably fine in NPR if you're near the coast. If you can grow foxtail or royal palms, you'll be fine.

But remember that these are pioneering trees that are best considered as temporary trees, especially near buildings. They're very soft-wooded and break apart readily in tropical storms. (Wood toughens up more in SoCal where they're not exposed to as much water.)

I agree with Ken. They are slightly hardier than Delonix regia but more tender than Jacaranda or Peltophorum dubium.

[Eric in Orlando]

  On 5/14/2012 at 9:23 PM, Gonzer said:

Eric, nice trees. Here's my beast before being cut down last July. About 12 years in the ground.

Very nice. What happened to it ???

[Eric in Orlando]

  On 5/14/2012 at 9:36 PM, Jeff in Costa Rica said:

Eric, thanks for the photos. Love to see these trees in bloom.

In pic #1, I didn't realize that Cecropia would grow so well in Central Florida. That was a big surprise for me!

I was suprised at Cecropia too. I thought they might be too tender to grow as trees but maybe a dieback perennial. Since they grow so fast. But I saw a big one growing at Disney's Animal Kingdom and it only suffered minor damage after a light freeze. I obtained some seedlings from Fairchild of Cecropia peltata to expiriment with. Planted them out in summer 2005, about a foot tall. There are 4 growing and are 20-25 feet tall. 3 suffered minor/moderate damage after the cold winter of 2009-10 but one had no damage at all. But they are growing in protected locations.

I love the huge prop roots on these !

[Eric in Orlando]

  On 5/15/2012 at 2:34 AM, peachy said:

Mine flower very profusely each spring. They are amazingly cold hardy, surviving -5c with frost, with no damage whatsoever. I find them to be a perfect canopy tree, keeping their leaves over winter and dropping them at the beginning of spring, although they do make a mess at this time. Here is a photo of one of mine with a Grevillea robusta at the rear.

Peachy

Very nice !!! I love these trees. So far

[ahosey01]

  On 5/14/2012 at 4:35 PM, Eric in Orlando said:

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc37/Leu51/Flowering%20Trees/img_0610.jpg

 

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc37/Leu51/Flowering%20Trees/img_0629.jpg

 

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc37/Leu51/Flowering%20Trees/img_0585.jpg

Expand  

Any update on these things 15-ish years later?