If you’ve ever seen a huge tree suddenly burst into bright pink or golden-yellow flowers while it has no leaves at all, you’ve probably met a Handroanthus. These tropical trees are famous for putting on some of the most dramatic flowering displays in the Americas. They grow from Mexico down to Argentina, and many cities plant them as street trees because their blooms stop people in their tracks.
What makes Handroanthus trees especially interesting is their incredibly hard wood—the kind sold as “ipê.” It’s so tough that it’s used for decking and heavy-duty construction. Their beauty and their valuable wood make them both widely admired and sometimes overharvested, so conservation has become an important part of their story.
Even beyond the showy flowers and strong wood, these trees support local wildlife. Bees and hummingbirds love their sweet nectar, and when a whole avenue of Handroanthus trees blooms at once, it becomes a buzzing, colorful festival for anything with wings.
如果你曾經看過一棵枝繁葉茂的大樹突然綻放出鮮豔的粉紅色或金黃色花朵，而樹上卻一片光禿禿的，那你很可能遇到的就是風鈴木屬植物。這種熱帶樹木以其在美洲最壯觀的花期而聞名。它們生長於墨西哥到阿根廷一帶，許多城市都將它們種植為行道樹，因為它們盛開的花朵總能吸引人們駐足觀賞。
風鈴木屬樹最引人注目之處在於其極其堅硬的木材——這種木材被稱為「伊貝木、巴西柚木或紫心蘇木」。它非常堅韌，常用於建造露台和重型建築。風鈴木屬樹的美麗和珍貴的木材使其廣受讚譽，但也因此有時遭到過度砍伐，所以保護它們已成為其發展歷程中至關重要的一部分。
除了艷麗的花朵和堅固的木質，這些樹木也為當地野生動物提供棲息地。蜜蜂和蜂鳥喜愛它們甜美的花蜜，當整條大道上的風鈴木樹同時盛開時，便會成為所有帶翅膀的生物歡欣雀躍、色彩斑斕的盛宴。
Handroanthus chrysotrichus 黃金風鈴木
The Golden Trumpet Tree (Handroanthus chrysotrichus) is a semi-evergreen to semi-deciduous tree native to Brazil. It is moderately drought-tolerant once established. In Portuguese it’s called ipê-amarelo, and its bright golden-yellow (sometimes reddish) flowers are often regarded by Brazilians as a national symbol. The blooms are very showy and rich in nectar, making the tree a useful honey plant. However, it’s not especially popular with most hummingbirds (though a few species, like the glittering-bellied emerald and white-throated hummingbird, do sometimes visit). While commonly grown as an ornamental, its wood is also strong and durable, and is used in construction, furniture, and other applications.
黃金風鈴木是一種原產於巴西的半常綠至半落葉喬木。一旦紮根，它便具有一定的耐旱性。在葡萄牙語中，它被稱為ipê-amarelo，其明亮的金黃色（有時略帶紅色）花朵常被巴西人視為國家象徵。黃金風鈴木的花朵艷麗奪目，花蜜豐富，因此也是重要的蜜源植物。然而，它並不受大多數蜂鳥的青睞（儘管少數蜂鳥，例如亮腹翠蜂鳥和白喉蜂鳥，偶爾也會光顧）。雖然它常被當作觀賞植物栽培，但其木材也十分堅固耐用，可用於建築、家具製造及其他用途。
Handroanthus impetiginosus 紫花風鈴木
Handroanthus impetiginosus, better known as the pink ipê or pink trumpet tree, grows from northern Mexico all the way down to Argentina and is famous for putting on a stunning show when it drops its leaves and bursts into bloom. The wood from this tree is incredibly tough—so tough that it’s hard to use for fine furniture, but perfect for things like outdoor beams and decking because it stands up well to sun and weather. Bees love it too, which makes it a nice bonus for anyone who cares about pollinators. People have also used the tree’s inner bark in traditional herbal remedies. It’s brewed into a bitter tea called lapacho or taheebo, often sipped during cold and flu season or to soothe a smoker’s cough. Some Indigenous groups in South America also use it for digestive issues like intestinal candidiasis.
紫花風鈴木又稱粉紅巴西柚木或粉紅風鈴木，生長於墨西哥北部至阿根廷一帶，以其落葉盛開時的絢麗景象而聞名。這種樹的木材極其堅韌——堅韌到難以用於製作高檔家具，但卻非常適合用於戶外橫樑和露台等，因為它能很好地抵禦陽光和風雨的侵蝕。蜜蜂也十分喜愛這種木材，對於關心授粉昆蟲的人來說，這無疑是一大優點。人們也將這種樹的內皮用於傳統草藥療法。內皮可以泡成一種名為保哥茶 (lapacho) 或太日寶 (taheebo) 的苦茶，常用於感冒和流感季節，或緩解吸煙者的咳嗽。南美洲的一些原住民也用它來治療腸道念珠菌病等消化系統疾病。
Notes 筆記
- Handroanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the Bignoniaceae family. There are about 30 species in the genus.
- These trees are typically deciduous and can grow quite tall — some species reach up to 30–40 m in height.
- They often have palmately compound leaves, which can be quite striking.
- Flowers are large, trumpet-shaped, and very showy — they come in pink, yellow, or purple.
- Fruit is a long capsule containing winged seeds.
- One distinctive feature: the wood is very dense, durable, and hard, often containing lapachol, a bioactive compound. The wood (known commonly as ipe) is economically important and used in construction, decking, furniture, etc.
- The bark of Handroanthus impetiginosus (pink lapacho) has been used traditionally to treat a variety of ailments: inflammation, fever, fungal and bacterial infections, and more. Extracts from H. impetiginosus have been studied for anti-inflammatory and possibly anti-cancer effects.
- The nectar from Handroanthus flowers is an important food source for bees and hummingbirds.
- 風鈴木屬是紫葳科下的開花植物屬，該屬約有 30 個物種。
- 這些樹木通常是落葉喬木，而且可以長得很高——有些品種可以長到 30-40 公尺高。
- 它們的葉子通常是掌狀複葉，這非常引人注目。
- 花碩大，喇叭狀，非常艷麗－有粉紅色、黃色或紫色。
- 果實為長蒴果，內含帶翅種子。
- 其顯著特點是：這種木材密度高、經久耐用且堅硬，通常含有拉帕醇（一種生物活性化合物）。這種木材（俗稱伊貝木、巴西柚木或紫心蘇木）具有重要的經濟價值，廣泛應用於建築、露台/甲板、家具等。
- 紫花風鈴木（Handroanthus impetiginosus）的樹皮自古以來就被用於治療多種疾病，包括發炎、發燒、真菌和細菌感染等等。人們已經研究了紫花風鈴木萃取物的抗發炎和可能的抗癌性。
- 風鈴木屬的花蜜是蜜蜂和蜂鳥的重要食物來源。
References 參考資料
- Wikipedia: Handroanthus
Plants Posts 植物的帖子
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