Rosewood - Tipuana tipu

The Rosewood tree (Tipuana tipu) also called the "Pride of Bolivia" or the Tipu tree is a South American tree that it widely used as a shade or ornamental tree.
I found the tree above in the court yard of one of the government buildings in the city of Malaga, Spain. This tree is extensively used in Southern Spain along streets and avenues as an ornamental tree.
This tree is particularly beautiful when it is in flower with small, brightly colored yellow flowers.

15 comments:

  1. I think I remember that tree from our two years in Bolivia, long ago (1980-82.)

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  2. Hi Dan, I have several of these trees in my garden, I think they are wonderful. I also have another tree I cannot identify, can I post pictures on your blog?

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  3. I´m not sure if you can include a picture in a comment on someone else´s blog or not?? If your picture is already somewhere on the internet (your blog, Picasa or Flickr etc.) I could check it out there. (I tried to include an image in this comment with the html image tag and it was not accepted by Blogger.

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  4. Thanks for getting back, you can view it on my forum campo-girls.com/forum. It is in the section "Name it" under Unknown Tree. Hope you can help :)

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  5. Hi Dan, Not sure if you went to look at the tree on the forum? We had a problem with a setting so nobody could see the photos! But have solved it now, hope you could take a look and maybe identify it for me, thanks :)

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  6. Hi Dan,
    I just bought one of these trees--it's certainly going to take more water than my desert trees, but I just wanted something different to replace the four Ficus that froze in our very hard freeze of a few years ago. It's a beautiful tree!
    Aiyana

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  7. Hi Aiyana

    I think you certainly will enjoy your new Tipuana tipu.

    I love mine, now we know what it is ;)

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  8. Don't plant Tipu Trees! They have very aggressive roots that ripped up our thick concrete driveway and broke into our sewage lines. They shed like crazy and make a very bad mess from January through end of May.

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  9. yes. I am in soCal and ours doesn't shed that much if you pick up the beans each week. It's worth it for the huge canopy of shade and the beauty. We have someone shape it for us every 2-3 years and it has become a giant umbrella on our "park side". Don't plant it over a water line, water deep to keep the roots going down or they'll crawl across the surface, and please note - it BLEEDS when you prune large branches. Really!

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  10. Mitzkity: you said you have "someone shape it for us"- translation- you have to hire someone and spend $$$ to control it. Also- Tipu trees DO NOT have "beans." They have very large "helicopter" seed packets which will seed in your neighbor's yards (especially in So. Cal!), the tree is a DAILY nuisance from December through August EVERY DAY of EVERY YEAR! As for shade- NOT TRUE! Tipu trees lose ALL of their leaves in March, April and May in So. Cal and look extremely ratty and ugly.

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  11. Wow, that's a really negative way to look at a gorgeous tree! Those seed packets germinate about 20 teeny little baby trees that take 1/10 of a second to pull out.

    Yes, I admit it - I spend about $200 every 3 years to have a guy climb and beautify. The tree is an umbrella over an area that - in our soCal summer - would be unuseable by a sunburnable blonde like me. But it's now 60 feet tall and has been confined to my "park side", leaving a nice little garden and orchard for full sun. I sit on my swing and smile...that's what this tree has done for me.

    Oh, and that is the pure beauty of a partially deciduous tree - in the beautiful spring months, it goes bare and I can enjoy those first rays of sun while I get my park side all shipshape. Then I watch as the tree fills out and closes in for my protection.

    Everything has a purpose.

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  12. The Tipuana tipu tree is EXTREMELY messy and has very aggressive and invasive roots! DO NOT PLANT! The tree is DECIDUOUS and sheds non-stop from December-May each year. The tree can get 100 feet tall and 60 feet wide. The roots destroy sidewalks, poolsn and plumbing pipes! In shed giant beige seed packets and in the summer, dusty yellow flowers. DO NOT PLANT!

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  13. I love this tree! YES, it is extremely messy and I basically don't bother to clean up for a few weeks, because it will be just as messy in ten minutes afer sweeping, but that is a small price. The canopy is lovely, the branches are lovely. It grows outside my bedroom window and looking into its structure is magical.

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  14. We have just built a house and are currently attempting to landscape the gardens. We have been set guidelines for the landscaping by landcorp, whom we purchased the land from. One guideline is that we must plant a "street tree", of which ourse is this tree. I have been reading up on it and have found out that this tree has been listed on the Alert list of Environmental Weeds by the Aus government. Check out link below:
    www.weeds.gov.au/publications/guidelines/alert/pubs/t-tipu.pdf

    This tree is common in our area. My neighbour has one and in the year I have been here it has broken through the fence and seeded itself everywhere. The lawn is no longer lawn, but made up of tiny rosewood trees, and each time I look there are more and more! Yes pretty flowers when they come but I agree with the Aus gov - and Environmental Pest!!!

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