(5) Yellow Bean Tree
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Having left the Golden Oak it is a short walk to the main promenade, which travels up through the centre of Sydney Gardens and where you will find the ‘Yellow Bean tree’. The Yellow Bean Tree is a Country Champion, which means it is the tallest specimen of its kind in the UK and Ireland; recorded on the Tree Register of the British Isles.
The Bean Tree stands beside the Temple of Minerva, a replica of the Temple to Sulis Minerva found in Roman Baths. The replica temple was originally erected at the Empire Exhibition, Crystal Palace, London; Built by A. J. Taylor to promote Bath Stone. In 1911 the Temple was moved to Bath and erected in Sydney Gardens. The cost of this move was £288.00, paid for by Bath City Council.
On the wall of the temple is a plaque to commemorate the 1908 Bath Pageant; although the Pageant took place before the Temple was erected this place was appropriate for the plaque to be positioned because many of the pageant events were held in Sydney Gardens.
The Yellow Bean tree is a pod bearing tree native to China, where the wood from the tree has been used for thousands of years as the soundboard for a stringed instrument called the ‘Guqin’.
The tree grows tall with an irregular open rounded crown and can live over 150 years of age more. The trunk of the Bean tree is brown to grey in colour, the bark smooth when young, matures into hard plates or ridges.
The tree grows tall with an irregular open rounded crown and can live over 150 years of age more. The trunk of the Bean tree is brown to grey in colour, the bark smooth when young, matures into hard plates or ridges.
Photo of the 'Guqin', a stringed instrument.
Charlie Huang; English Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5146121 |
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The leaves appear in late spring and have 3 lobes, all slightly pointed at the head with the centre lobe larger than the two side lobes; the leaf can grow up to 30cm long and 20cm broad. In July and August, the tree produces large panicles of up to 40 trumpet-shaped creamy white flowers with yellow tinging; each floret is around 25mm wide.
The leaves fall early in the Autumn after the flowers/fruits of the tree have developed into slender seedpods; 25-30cm long. The seed pods slowly turn dark brown and the following spring they open and fall to the ground.
The leaves fall early in the Autumn after the flowers/fruits of the tree have developed into slender seedpods; 25-30cm long. The seed pods slowly turn dark brown and the following spring they open and fall to the ground.
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Reference
Gazzard, G. A. MSc (2021) wrote the above article with information from the following sources.
Rose, B. BSc (Hons) MSc DipArb(RFS) MICFor RCArborA Chartered Arboriculturist Arboricultural Association Registered Consultant (2020). Bosky Trees, Arboricultural Impact Assessment & Tree Protection Plan for trees atSydney Gardens, Bath. (Accessed 13/03/21).
White, R. S. PhD (2020). Sydney Gardens: a self-guided walking tour reflecting on botany, empire, reluctant heritage and deep time. (Accessed 13/03/13). Available at:
https://medium.com/sydney-gardens-bath/sydney-gardens-a-reluctant-heritage-a-walking-tour-reflecting-on-botany-empire-and-deep-time-789d71c0c288
RHS. Yellow bean tree Catalpa-bignonioides. (Accessed 13/03/13). Available at:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/3201/Catalpa-bignonioides/Details
The Champion Tree Register. (Accessed 13/03/13). Available at:
https://www.treeregister.org/champion/
Wikipedia, Catalpa ovata. (Accessed 13/03/13). Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalpa_ovata
Gazzard, G. A. MSc (2021) wrote the above article with information from the following sources.
Rose, B. BSc (Hons) MSc DipArb(RFS) MICFor RCArborA Chartered Arboriculturist Arboricultural Association Registered Consultant (2020). Bosky Trees, Arboricultural Impact Assessment & Tree Protection Plan for trees atSydney Gardens, Bath. (Accessed 13/03/21).
White, R. S. PhD (2020). Sydney Gardens: a self-guided walking tour reflecting on botany, empire, reluctant heritage and deep time. (Accessed 13/03/13). Available at:
https://medium.com/sydney-gardens-bath/sydney-gardens-a-reluctant-heritage-a-walking-tour-reflecting-on-botany-empire-and-deep-time-789d71c0c288
RHS. Yellow bean tree Catalpa-bignonioides. (Accessed 13/03/13). Available at:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/3201/Catalpa-bignonioides/Details
The Champion Tree Register. (Accessed 13/03/13). Available at:
https://www.treeregister.org/champion/
Wikipedia, Catalpa ovata. (Accessed 13/03/13). Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalpa_ovata