Deplanchea tetraphylla in bloom in the Deerfield Beach Arboretum

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

 

 

 

 

 

A beautiful flowering tree that you don't see much.  It is in the Bignoneaceae family but hardly looks like it in flower and leaf shape.  The structure of the tree is similar to Tabebuia aurea (caribae) in that it is poorly shaped and needs a little structural pruning to help.  Ours is right on the road nestled between Chambeyronia.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

 

A local commenter made a video a few years ago.

[mnorell]

Jerry, those are nice shots of a beautiful specimen. A great tree all around, I bought one at a Fairchild Ramble and grew it on Big Pine for several years. Bloomed young, magnificent big leaves and those amazing flowers really catch the sunlight. A very tough, hardy plant, loved it in the Keys and no problems with the limestone. Its Achilles heel: saltwater. It handled aerial salt (we are a block from the open water there) but 12-plus hours under four-and-a-half feet of ocean during Hurricane Irma blackened it. That was a sad day, when I saw the end of that gorgeous tree. But it should be tested in a variety of areas and climates as it is a real stunner, easy to grow and very rewarding. I have toyed with the idea of testing one in Rancho Mirage since it grows in a fairly harsh and very sunny natural environment in northern Australia, but I'm pretty sure the sun and extreme heat would at the very least blanche those wide expanses of leaf-tissue and the effect would be utterly spoilt. I would be surprised if @Eric in Orlando hasn't yet tried it at Leu...