New Harmony, Indiana, stages the Antique Show also known as the Golden Raintree festival each June when its “Gate Trees” are in bloom!
William Maclure, scientist, philanthropist, and joint founder of the second “perfect society” there on the lower Wabash, fell in love with the golden rain tree on one of his world tours.
In 1828, he sent some seeds home to his friend Thomas Say, later known as the “Father of American Conchology.” Say planted the seeds near the gate of the Maclure mansion where they thrived and were called the “gate trees.”
Others living in New Harmony planted seeds from those first trees until the avenues are lined and nearly every lawn in the historic town has one or more of the flowering trees. The annual festival shares the thrilling beauty of those trees, in bloom, with travelers from all over the country as well as with neighbors from Illinois and Kentucky.
Sometimes called the “Pride of China,” the tree originally flourished in oriental gardens and beautified shrines in China, Korea, and Japan. Since its introduction in the United States, it has made itself at home and is well adapted to cultivation in much of Mid-America.
When redbuds, wild plum, forsythia and fruit trees are shedding their spring glory, reddish-gold scrolls start appearing from the dark gray twigs and fill the golden rain tree with a rosy mist that seems almost like bloom. These fern-like fronds develop with the warming sun into the lacy, dark-green compound leaves which throw a twinkling shade.
Middle of June
About the middle of June (some varieties are later), when other ornamentals are through blooming, the golden rain tree puts on a stellar performance of its own. Buds quickly form at the tips of the now heavily-leafed branches and soon great golden sprays of small blossoms transform the tree into a golden cloud.
These fragrant yellow flower lets, marked with orange at their base, grow on panicles often 15” inches long. As they fall, they form the “drops” in the shower which covers the ground with a pattern of living gold. We can see why the Chinese gave the tree the poetic name of “golden rain.”
It is a mistake, however, to think that the blossoms are the tree’s only glory. After it has lost its “pieces of gold,” light green pods form which develop to the size of a lime and are shaped like miniature Japanese lanterns. Children love to gather and string them.
The pod is composed of three heart-shaped sides, each protecting a seed which matures into a dark brown, almost black, shiny pea, as the pods turn through a tan, a rosy-copper, into a weathered brown. These almost airtight pods are now “poppers” which youngsters like to snap and crunch as they shuffle through those fallen to the ground.
Leaves Of The Golden Rain Tree
The golden rain tree holds still more fascination as the leaves assume the deep yellow and bronze coloring of their fall dress.
With the cold weather, the large compound leaves fall quickly and as the tree is suddenly stripped of foliage, winter shows us another beautiful transformation. Now we can see how gracefully and harmoniously the branches fork and twist in Oriental fashion, silhouetting a lovely pattern against the winter sky. When sparkling frost or feathery snow outlines the branches, contrasting with the dark gray bark, the sight is almost breath-taking.
Vachel Lindsay used the golden rain tree as the symbol of New Harmony in his Golden Book of Springfield after a visit there on a lecture tour.
Don Blair, a more recent writer in New Harmony has said, “Perhaps it is an error to consider a tree as a friend, but is not that which gives pleasure and comfort to us, our friend? We do not know why, but the golden rain tree seems to have accepted man as its friend and wishes to be near him, for it is not to be found in the woods or fields.
There is not a yard in New Harmony in which the tree does not grow with the greatest profusion, and thousands of them fall to the lawn mower every year, yet they do not spread to the fields.”
Rain Tree Classification
The golden rain tree is also popularly known as the “varnish tree” and belongs to the Soapberry family. Its botanical name is Koelreuteria paniculata. It was named for Joseph Gottlieb Koelreuter, a German naturalist, who was one of the early botanists to realize that plants and animals possess sex.
He published his findings in a book on hybrid plants in 1760, but his “revolutionary ideas” found little acceptance among agriculturists of his time. The species name paniculata refers to the great panicles in which the flowers and seeds are borne.
This handsome, medium-sized, round-headed tree is especially satisfactory for lawns and parks. Although it may need some special protection in its early winters farther north, large trees are growing successfully in Detroit and Boston.
It stands heat and drought well, prefers a slightly alkaline soil, but grows in almost any kind. It seems to require little food and water. Even very young trees will bloom.
Although it never produces a really straight trunk or branches, it always presents a symmetrical and artistic shape. The limbs’ slightly gnarled or attractively crooked character makes the tree all the more picturesque, especially during the winter.
If trimmed up, the tree grows tall, even to 30 or 40 feet, but its many charms can be enjoyed much more if it is allowed to branch near the ground and spread out over grass or low shrubbery. A good effect comes from planting several trees in a clump.
The tree will tolerate shade, but does better in full sun where its beauty is uncrowded. It is especially valuable as a close-in shade or ornamental tree for terraces and patios.
44659 by Sarah Peters