It looks like golden rain tree to me - do a google.com search and select 'images' to see if I am correct.

It definitely looks like it. Even the leaves match up.

Unfortunately... now that I know what it is and have looked it up, I can appreciate it but I won't be getting one. IFAS/UF has it listed as a Cat 2 Exotic Invasive from Asia.

C'est la vie.

Thank you though!

They are very beautiful this time of year! I think they even turn orange at some point, like they are changing with the seasons. Maybe that's just some varieties? I don't have one, but I've considered getting one. I didn't know they were invasive, though.

Yes, it's a Golden Shower Tree, Cassia fistula. They're a listed weed here too. But they're still grown quite a lot around the place. I've found abandoned trees that are over 40 years old but not a sign of any progeny anywhere. However, I've also seen some that have runaway progeny down stream of the parent plant. So seeds aren't spread by birds or other animals, just where they fall or get washed to by heavy rains. And for the amount of flowers they have, seed production and germination rate is quite low.

Yes, it's a golden rain tree. I used to love them also, until I moved to a house with two of them in the yard. Now, they are on my list of high maintenance trees I'd like to replace someday... They really do self-seed like crazy and little baby golden rain trees spring up EVERYWHERE. I am constantly pulling them up.

It's Golden Rain, but not the cassia fistula that sometimes gets called by that name.

Golden Rain (Koelreuteria paniculata) flower up close;

{{gwi:948085}}

The flowers change colors as they age.

Cassia fistula bloom:

Golden rain flowers are upright. Cassia fistula racemes hang down.

My next door neighbor has one and I must weed out over a 1000 seedlings every spring. I HATE THAT TREE!!! Each flower produces about 6 seeds and they all germinate. Here in S Fl it is considered a class 1. It is a shame since it is such a pretty tree.

They are all over the Leesburg along Hwy 441 and when taken in with all the other trees in the area, it gave small impression of being in the Appalachians in October. I first saw one at Sea World - Orlando back in spring and told myself I would learn what it is and get one. Since then I have become more Florida-Friendly in what I plant and could not plant one now. Tends to be my luck with things. :)

My mistake, I should have looked a little more closely at the photos. Thanks for pointing it out Writersblock. I might have to change my name to Mentalblock, LOL.

No problem, tropicbreezent. i do things like that all the time. :)

I'm just always glad to have a excuse to look at cassia fistula, either in real life or photos. I wish I had room for one.

So, are both plants considered nuisance or just the one at the beginning of this post?

Darren

I don't know for sure, but usually when I learn of a new plant, I do a google search for the plant's name and include Florida and invasive in the search. If the plant in question is on the invasive list, there will be a link to a IFAS/UF article within the first three results.

So in this case, I did "Rain Tree Florida Invasive" and the very first link was the IFAS/UF study.

And rather than leaving it at that, I did a quick "Cassia fistula invasive Florida" search and got the IFAS/UF results in the first link again. (Dang they're good.) And here are the results:

"Invasive potential: has been evaluated using the IFAS Assessment of the Status of Non-Native Plants in Florida s Natural Areas (Fox et al. 2005). This species is not documented in any undisturbed natural areas in Florida. Thus, it is not considered a problem species and may be used in Florida."

Turns out that Cassia Fistula is called Golden-Shower. Close to Golden Rain Tree, but not the same.

The Golden Rain Trees in Florida are Koelreuteria elegans ssp. formosana. It is a subtropical tree native to Taiwan. K. bipinnata and K. paniculata are two other Golden Rain Trees common further north but will not growing in FL except maybe extreme northern/coldest parts of FL.

Ok, thanks Leekle2mane. I have two Golden Rain trees next door at my sister in laws. I'm thinking I may have some seedlings along our property line and if not, she probably has some I could access if anyone is interested. Its blooming beautifully now.

Darren

So it is, eric9b. Thanks for catching that.

We had one in NY for 25 years. It was beautiful and we never got a seedling. We had cold winters, many years below 0F. It flowered every August and would have long seed pods.

Certainly wasn't invasive. I wonder if it could be the same tree? I miss seeing it each year and would consider growing one here.

Jane

Lol, I love it, with every change of the GRT, it becomes a mystery again! Green, gold, pink, back to green. It's what we deem a 'trash tree' like ear trees or china berry trees, but we love em anyway! That's a gorgeous specimen!

I don't think yours looks like the same tree that grows here, Jane. The flowers aren't so clumpy and don't seem to stand up as much, and I don't think that the elegans can take the cold up north. Also, they don't have long seedpods.

It's a beautiful tree, whatever it is (and I don't think golden rain is pretty at all, personally, other than the name).