# Pink ipê (Handroanthus impetiginosus)

> 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.

Source: https://treerm.org/trees/handroanthus-impetiginosus · Updated 2026-11-08 · License CC BY 4.0

## Facts

- Also called: Ipê-roxo, Pink trumpet tree, Pau d'arco, Lapacho, Taheebo
- Family: Bignoniaceae
- Type: Broadleaf, loses its leaves in winter
- Growth: Medium growth
- Light: Sun or part shade
- Water: Low water
- 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.

**Benefits:** Flowers, Pollinators, Birds, Drought tolerant, Shade, Long lived

**Good for:** Street tree, parks, Yard shade, Timber

**Watch out for:** No major cautions

## 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.

## Where it stands

- **Native:** Argentina (North-west Argentina); Bolivia; Brazil; Colombia; Costa Rica; Guatemala; Mexico; Peru; Paraguay
- **Recommended:** SP, Brazil (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)

## 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