Did you know that Handroanthus impetiginosus (Pink Lapacho) is the national tree of Paraguay?

Pink Lapacho - Handroanthus impetiginosus

Handroanthus impetiginosus, the pink ipê, pink lapacho or pink trumpet tree, is a tree in the family Bignoniaceae, distributed throughout North, Central and South America, from northern Mexico south to northern Argentina. Along with all the other species in the Handroanthus genus, it is the national tree of Paraguay.

The species is native to north-eastern Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, French Guyana, Guatemala, Honduras, central and southern Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam and Venezuela, where it grows in the deciduous forests as well as in the pluvial ones up to about 1400 m of altitude.

The name of the genus is the combination of the name of the Brazilian botanist Oswaldo Handro (1908-1986) and of the Greek term “anthos” = flower; the name of the species comes from the Latin “impetigo, inis” = impetigo (a skin disease), in fact, they thought that the plant might treat this disease.

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