tree

Golden rain tree

Koelreuteria paniculata

Climate-suitable non-native

Growing guidance

Horticultural figures below are practitioner estimates for planning, pending expert review. The botanical record further down is sourced and verifiable.

Current-climate suitability

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Future-climate resilience

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Sun

Full sun

Soil moisture

free-draining, average

Heat tolerance

Up to about 44°C

Cold tolerance

Down to about -22°C

Waterlogging tolerance

2/5

Drought tolerance

5/5

Mature size

6–10 m tall, 7 m spread

Seasonal interest

Midsummer · Yellow

Maintenance

low

Wildlife supported

General wildlife value 3/5 (verified species relationships are shown only where structured data exists)

Known risks or warnings

Seeds prolifically and is invasive in parts of the US.

Toxicity: none

Verified botanical record

Accepted scientific name: Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm.
Family: Sapindaceae (Sapindales)
Rank and status: species · accepted
GBIF record: Taxon 5421180

Recorded as introduced in: Alabama, Arkansas, Austria, Belgium, Brussels-Capital Region, Bulgaria, California, Connecticut, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Delaware and 49 further regions

Ranges are exactly as recorded in the GBIF source checklists and may be incomplete for widely cultivated species.

Koelreuteria paniculata is a species of flowering plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to China (including Inner Mongolia), Korea, and Manchuria. Naturalized in Japan since at least the 1200s, it was introduced to Europe in 1747 and North America in 1763, and has become a popular landscape tree worldwide. Common names include goldenrain tree, pride of India, China tree, and the varnish tree.

Description from Wikipedia — Koelreuteria paniculata (CC BY-SA), shortened and unedited in substance.

Native status and geographic context

United Kingdom: climate-suitable
United States: restricted
Australia: climate-suitable

Native status is never inferred from climate similarity. Plants restricted or invasive in a jurisdiction are excluded from recommendations there.

Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where to buy

Real retailers serving UK. Garden Forward publishes no prices of its own — each link opens the retailer's own search results, where their current price and stock are shown.

Search Ashridge Nurseries for Koelreuteria paniculata
Bare-root trees, hedging and fruit in the dormant season.
Search Sarah Raven for Koelreuteria paniculata
Perennials, bulbs and seed, delivered across the UK.
Search Farmer Gracy for Koelreuteria paniculata
Bulbs and perennials shipped direct from Dutch growers.
Search Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants for Koelreuteria paniculata
Specialist hardy perennial nursery.
Search Marshalls Garden for Koelreuteria paniculata
Fruit, vegetable plants and seed.

No affiliate relationship is in place with these retailers, so nothing here earns Garden Forward a commission. Search links checked 2026-09-17. Availability of a species is never a reason it is recommended.

Companion palettes

Not currently in a sample palette.

Climate-resilient alternatives

Data sources

Taxonomy and native range: GBIF Backbone Taxonomy
Species description: Wikipedia — Koelreuteria paniculata
Photograph: Didier Descouens · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Growing guidance: Practitioner horticultural estimates pending expert review

Botanical record checked 2026-09-17 · growing guidance last reviewed 2026-06-01 · confidence medium

Demonstration data. Climate, plant and retailer records shown here are realistic samples awaiting horticultural validation and live data connections.