golden rain treen.
/ˌɡəʊld(ə)n ˈreɪn triː/, U.S. /ˌɡoʊld(ə)n ˈreɪn ˌtri/ 1. A laburnum. Cf. golden chain n. at golden adj. and n. Compounds 4a. Now rare.
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1861 Fraser's Mag. Feb. 166/1 They lived in a pretty villa on the Thames.., with a sunny lawn stretching down to the water-side, and the rich laburnums, the ‘golden rain’ trees of Ada's mother-tongue, drooping overhead.
1960 S. Plath in Kenyon Rev. 22 595 The Golden Rain Tree drips its powders down.
2. A tree with pinnate leaves, panicles of yellow flowers, and red, bladder-like seed capsules, Koelreuteria paniculata (family Sapindaceae), native to China and Korea but widely planted elsewhere.
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1908 Garden Mag. Oct. 120/1 A tree somewhat rarely seen, although long in cultivation, is the Chinese golden rain tree (Kœlreuteria paniculata), which grows to a height of thirty feet in the South.
2012 Church Times 27 Jan. 18/5 Finally, I recommended the Golden-rain tree Koelreuteria paniculata.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1861