06.15.07 GOLDEN RAIN

In 1809 Thomas Jefferson received seeds from a good friend in Paris of a tree which had recently been imported to Europe from China. The golden-rain tree, Koelreuteria paniculata, is a small tree with beautiful golden flowers in midsummer and interesting seedpod structures in late summer and fall. Jefferson planted it at Monticello, some say introducing it to the United States, and the rest is history. Although the tree is relatively short-lived, its descendants still thrive on Monticello mountain and their offspring have spread down the hill to the Belmont community of Charlottesville.