Houston Tree ID - Peltophorum?

[Xenon]

I'm guessing this might be Peltophorum dubium? Drove by it a few days ago; was a real head turner! Very tropical looking for the area, and still holding a few blooms too. 

Houston Peltophorum?

Link shows tree in August 2016. Tree was already large and established in 2007 and the most recent street view is from June 2019. Must have grown a lot during the summer, it currently looks much fuller than it appears in the most recent street view. Cut back by a few freezes but always recovers. Jan 2018 (20F) cut it back to the main branches. Seems to be fully evergreen in mild winters too. 

Edited December 12, 2019 by Xenon

[Silas_Sancona]

18 minutes ago, Xenon said:

I'm guessing this might be Peltophorum dubium? Drove by it a few days ago; was a real head turner! Very tropical looking for the area, and still holding a few blooms too. 

Houston Peltophorum?

Link shows tree in August 2016. Tree was already large and established in 2007 and the most recent street view is from June 2019. Must have grown a lot during the summer, it currently looks much fuller than it appears in the most recent street view. Cut back by a few freezes but always recovers. Seems to be fully evergreen in mild winters too. 

Yep, looks like P. dubium to me. Nice find.

[Jeff985]

Nice. Way more attractive than all the oaks around here. 

[Hillizard]

Here's mine, which has really taken off since I put it in the ground a couple of years ago. Leaves are now starting to turn for winter. I lost track of its ID, so I'm not sure if it's P. dubium or P. africanum? Hasn't bloomed for me yet. It shades the Trithrinax acanthocoma beside it from the worst effects of the summer sun. It'll have to be pruned regularly so my neighbor on the other side of the fence doesn't have to fish out leaves from his pool!

[Silas_Sancona]

31 minutes ago, Hillizard said:

Here's mine, which has really taken off since I put it in the ground a couple of years ago. Leaves are now starting to turn for winter. I lost track of its ID, so I'm not sure if it's P. dubium or P. africanum? Hasn't bloomed for me yet. It shades the Trithrinax acanthocoma beside it from the worst effects of the summer sun. It'll have to be pruned regularly so my neighbor on the other side of the fence doesn't have to fish out leaves from his pool!

Looks like P. dubium.  Africanum will flower / set seed when smaller,  say roughly 10ft in height.  Foliage looks a little different as well.  Yours should be about to.. or less than a couple years from flowering..  If i'd have known i would be here 3 years, i'd have put the P. dubium i have in the ground here.. It and africanium were trialed down in Yuma in a test plot the Desert Legume Program ( U of AZ, Tucson ) ran for a couple decades and performed well. 

[Hillizard]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Looks like P. dubium.  Africanum will flower / set seed when smaller,  say roughly 10ft in height.  Foliage looks a little different as well.  Yours should be about to.. or less than a couple years from flowering..  If i'd have known i would be here 3 years, i'd have put the P. dubium i have in the ground here.. It and africanium were trialed down in Yuma in a test plot the Desert Legume Program ( U of AZ, Tucson ) ran for a couple decades and performed well. 

Thanks for your assessment! Once it blooms that should help with the ID.

[necturus]

Very nice catch! I'm surprised I've never seen that one.

I planted a seedling a few years back. It froze to the ground in the bad freeze several years ago but came back strong and is now probably twenty feet and 3-4 inches in diameter. 

[Matt N- Dallas]

A former Houston plant collector, Alton Marshall lived at the corner of Bagby & Avondale for decades where the condos are now and the p. dubium was planted years ago by him.  A very knowledgeable friend last saw his place (and the peltophorum) around 2000.  His house and garden was bulldozed sometime in the early 2000’s.  

[Meangreen94z]

Great backstory, much appreciated.

[Matt N- Dallas]

Alton grew a nice bauhinia forficata there that has been shared among plant people in TX.  I have plants growing of it that descended from Alton’s.  I think I could see a bauhinia in one of the google earth pics.  

[Silas_Sancona]

@Hillizard and anyone else, pics of some differences between Peltophorum dubium and P. pterocarpum.. Both sp. growing in the general area of Kopsick in St. Pete.

Not the best of pics, sun wasn't at an ideal angle the day i'd taken these but should give a good idea of flowers/ developing seed morphology on P. dubium.  I should have taken pics of the big trees i'd see daily between where i worked in Sarasota and the house in Bradenton.. This particular specimen is one of two that sit on either side of the entrance into the parking lot at Kopsick. Easily seen on street view.

Thought i had pics of P. africanum also but apparently deleted them.. or just didn't take any.. Will get some of the tree at DBG later.

'Couple shots of overall canopy..


Flowers closer-up


Not the clearest of pics, but closer up detail of developing seed. You'll see the differences between the two species in the next pics..

[Meangreen94z]

4 hours ago, Matt N- Dallas said:

Alton grew a nice bauhinia forficata there that has been shared among plant people in TX.  I have plants growing of it that descended from Alton’s.  I think I could see a bauhinia in one of the google earth pics.  

What became of his collection is very typical of Houston. About the only thing not lost to history is the Astrodome.

[Silas_Sancona]

Few shots of Peltophorum pterocarpum..

Close up of flowers on a specimen at the nursery i used to work at in Sarasota. notice the coppery "fuzz" on the up-opened buds.


Some close ups. ( tree is located near the parking lot on the north side of the Tennis Courts.. N. side of Kopsick )




Close up of developing seed pods.. Pretty clear differences compared to P. dubium. Larger foliage is another defining trait of this sp.

[Hillizard]

2 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Few shots of Peltophorum pterocarpum..

Close up of flowers on a specimen at the nursery i used to work at in Sarasota. notice the coppery "fuzz" on the up-opened buds.


Some close ups. ( tree is located near the parking lot on the north side of the Tennis Courts.. N. side of Kopsick )




Close up of developing seed pods.. Pretty clear differences compared to P. dubium. Larger foliage is another defining trait of this sp.

Thanks for posting these awesome pictures! Excellent tree genus for those in areas where Delonix or even Cassia cannot overwinter safely. I'm hoping next year I'll get some blooms/seed pods on my tree to really nail the species ID.

[RedRabbit]

Still alive by chance?

[Xenon]

On 6/11/2025 at 10:24 AM, RedRabbit said:

Still alive by chance?

The whole place was renovated. It's all gone 🥲