Trumpet Tree (Tabebuia aurea)

Family Bignoniaceae

The wood of Tabebuia is light to medium in weight. Tabebuia rosea (including T. pentaphylla) is an important timber tree of tropical America. Tabebuia heterophylla and Tabebuia angustata are the most important timber trees of some of the Caribbean islands. Their wood is of medium weight and is exceptionally durable in contact with salt water.

 The swamp species of Tabebuia have wood that is unusually light in weight. The most prominent example of these is Tabebuia cassinoides. Its roots produce a soft and spongy wood that is used for floats, razor straps, and the inner soles of shoes.


In spite of its use for lumber, Tabebuia is best known as an ornamental flowering tree. Tabebuia aurea, Tabebuia rosea, Tabebuia pallida, Tabebuia berteroi, and Tabebuia heterophylla are cultivated thruout the tropics for their showy flowers. Tabebuia dubia, Tabebuia haemantha, Tabebuia obtusifolia, Tabebuia nodosa, and Tabebuia roseo-alba are also known in cultivation and are sometimes locally abundant.

 Some species of Tabebuia have been grown as honey plants by beekeepers.


Tabebuia heteropoda, Tabebuia incana, and other species are occasionally used as an additive to the entheogenic drink Ayahuasca.

Ecology

The nectar of Tabebuia flowers is an important food source for several species of bees and hummingbirds.