{"slug":"handroanthus-impetiginosus","scientific_name":"Handroanthus impetiginosus","common_names":["Pink ipê","Ipê-roxo","Pink trumpet tree","Pau d'arco","Lapacho","Taheebo"],"family":"Bignoniaceae","type":"broadleaf_deciduous","mature_height_m":null,"mature_spread_m":null,"growth_rate":"medium","lifespan_years":null,"hardiness_zones":null,"sun":"full_partial","water":"low","soil":"Clay, loam or sand, acid or alkaline, as long as it is reasonably fertile and well drained","native_range":"Native from Mexico through Central America to Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and north-west Argentina.","description":"Brazil's most beloved flowering tree, a medium-to-large deciduous tree that drops its leaves in the dry season and explodes into pink-purple trumpet blossom before releafing. Its extremely dense, durable timber (ipê) is prized for decking, and the bark is a folk medicine. The yellow ipês (H. chrysotrichus, H. albus) are the national flower, but the pink ipê is the standard avenue tree in Brazilian cities: São Paulo state's 'Árvore amiga da cidade' guide lists it among trees for wide streets where the canopy radius exceeds 5 m. It needs little care and has no serious pests.","care":"Plant in full sun with good drainage; stake and train to a single trunk until 1.8 to 2.5 m tall, then leave it. Water the first dry season; drought tolerant thereafter. Prune lightly after flowering to shape. No pests or diseases of major concern. Choose it for medium and wide verges, not narrow pavements.","benefits":["flowers","pollinators","birds","drought_tolerant","shade","long_lived"],"uses":["street_tree","parks","yard_shade","timber"],"cautions":["none"],"image_url":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/055_Pink_Ip%C3%AA_tree_in_Mato_Grosso_Photo_by_Giles_Laurent.jpg","image_credit":"Wikimedia Commons, file 055_Pink_Ipê_tree_in_Mato_Grosso_Photo_by_Giles_Laurent.jpg (see file page for author and licence)","sources":["https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Tabebuia_impetiginosa.PDF","https://www.infraestruturameioambiente.sp.gov.br/institutoflorestal/wp-content/uploads/sites/234/2016/01/Arvore_amiga_da_cidade.pdf","https://www.gbif.org/species/4092242"],"data_note":null,"updated_at":"2026-11-08T01:00:46.205Z","page_url":"https://treerm.org/trees/handroanthus-impetiginosus","markdown_url":"https://treerm.org/trees/handroanthus-impetiginosus.md","regions":[{"country":"AR","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":"North-west Argentina","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/4092242"},{"country":"BO","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/4092242"},{"country":"BR","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/4092242"},{"country":"CO","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/4092242"},{"country":"CR","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/4092242"},{"country":"GT","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/4092242"},{"country":"MX","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/4092242"},{"country":"PE","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/4092242"},{"country":"PY","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/4092242"},{"country":"BR","region":"SP","locality":null,"status":"recommended","note":"Listed in the São Paulo state Instituto Florestal 'Árvore amiga da cidade' guide among large native species for planting where canopy radius exceeds 5 m","source_url":"https://www.infraestruturameioambiente.sp.gov.br/institutoflorestal/wp-content/uploads/sites/234/2016/01/Arvore_amiga_da_cidade.pdf"}],"license":"CC-BY-4.0"}