Golden Rain Tree

Selecting trees to grow in our high desert environment is not easy!  We have hot summers, cold winters, poor alkaline soils, and never enough water.  It helps to pick trees that seem adapted to our conditions, and one of those is the golden rain tree (a.k.a. Koelreuteria paniculata).

This medium-sized landscape tree is native to China but has been used as an ornamental tree throughout the Far East for hundreds of years, and had made it to America before the colonies broke with Mother England.  The leaves are large, composed of several smaller leaflets arranged on the leaf mid-rib.  The flowers, which come in early summer, are a bright yellow and beloved by many bee species.  The fruit is a dry fruit, hanging down ornamentally like little Japanese lanterns strung through the canopy.

Tolerant of our soils and of occasional drought stress, pretty and not too big…seems like the perfect tree!  Well, almost – it does come with one downside that is aesthetic only but a big step for some folks.  The trees attract insects called boxelder bugs, which come to feed on the seeds.  They do not hurt the tree, nor do they attack other landscape plants.  The issue is that come fall, they like to gather in masses in warm spots, like on the side of your house.  They don’t hurt anything, but some people have an “ick” reaction.  We recommend this tree not be planted adjacent to the home, but further out in the landscape.

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