American Tulip tree - Liriodendron tulipifera

The Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is the state tree of Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana. It also goes by the name Tulip Poplar or American Tulip tree.

The tree is a fast growing tree that can grow to be quite tall and is valued as a source of timber.

The "tulip" part of the name comes from the shape of the flower as can be seen in the image below.

(Image credit: Natalie Rowe, www.earlyforest.com)

This tree has an interesting 6-10 pointed, slightly palmate symetrical leaf shape. The leaves are about 5-6 inches accross.

These images come from the "Molino de Inca" botanical garden in Torremolinos Spain.

Other trees with a "tulip" shaped flowers are...
Southern Magnolia
Saucer Magnolia

Persian Lilac - Melia azedarach

The "Persian Lilac" as it is sometimes called is a member of the mahogany family native to Asia and Australia. It is a popular ornametal and shade tree that presents itself with uniquely different looks at different seasons. The image above illustrates its beautiful blossoms when it is in flower.

The leaves are simple in shape with an "odd pinate" distribution on the branchlet. Their color is a shiny light green.

The flowers give way to clusters of small tan colors balls that are about 1cm in diameter. These clusters of balls create the second interesting look of this tree when the leaves fall in Autumn leaving only these balls as ornaments.

The balls eventually turn black and fall off about the time that the next years new leaves are forming. I took these pictures in the University of Malaga botanical garden but these trees can be found all over Southern and Central Spain and in fact have gone native is some areas (begun to reproduce on their own).

The pictures above and below illustrate the pleasant form of this tree that makes it attractive as an urban tree for city lanes and parks.

Other names for this tree are White Cedar, Cape Lilac, Chinaberry or Bead Tree

White Popinac - Leucaena leucocephala

Whenever I look at the White Popinac flower up close it reminds me of the images of microscopic life forms taken with a powerful microscope. The flowers are these little (2cm diameter) balls that are creamy white with a greenish tone toward the inside. The image above illustrates what they look like far better than my descriptions.
The White Popinac is native to Mexico but has been introduced into many other countries for a variety of purposes. Its uses range from a simple ornamental tree for its unique flowers to firewood to livestock feed and as a tree that is good for the environment.
It is not a very big tree. Of the ones I have seen none is taller than 5 meters (16 feet).

Snowflake Aralia - Trevesia palmata

I came across this rare tree in the "Paseo del Parque" gardens in downtown Malaga. It took me quite a while to identify this tree as there are very images of it on the internet.
I went back to this tree several times to get pictures of its flowers at different stages of development. The flowers hang on the underside of this small trees rather large leaves (about 40cm in diameter). The flowers form balls of small yellow and white blossoms. The ball shape is about 10cm in diameter.
The Trevesia palmata is native to South China and grows in tropical or sub-tropical climates. The trees that I found were only about 3 meters tall.
The leaves have long stems (about 75cm long) and grow of the main truck which is covered with small thorns that slowly wear off.

The image below is of the flowers and leaves after they have dried out but are still hanging on the underside of the tree.

external links...

http://www.tenthousandtrees.com/Araliaceae/Tree%20-%20Trevesia%20palmata.html