Large leaves on trees are a real eye-catcher. There are species that draw attention to themselves with very wide or long greens. 20 can be found in this list.

In a nutshell

  • large-leaved trees are thirsty
  • increased perspiration
  • higher rate of photosynthesis
  • improved wind and sun tolerance

Big Leaves: Trees from A to B

London Plane (Platanus hispanica)

  • Distribution: Holarctic with the exception of North Africa and the Near East, prefers alluvial forests
  • Growth: sprawling, flaking bark, summer green
  • Growth height: 2,000 to 4,500 cm
  • Growth width: 1,000 to 2,500 cm
  • Leaf: 15 to 25 cm, five-lobed, shape resembles maple leaves, deep green, yellow-orange in autumn
  • Flowers: catkins, stalk about 8 cm long, female flowers carmine red, male flowers yellow-green and smaller
  • Flowering time: May
  • Location: sunny, tolerates partial shade, undemanding, sufficiently moist, slightly acidic to slightly alkaline
  • Special features: Risk of confusion with maple species due to the shape of the leaves

Sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus)

  • Distribution: Central to south-eastern Europe, isolated in the rest of Europe, North Caucasus
  • Habit: upright, umbrella crown, sprawling, bark flakes off in old age (similar to plane trees), deciduous
  • Growth height: 800 to 3,000 cm
  • Growth width: 1,200 to 2,500 cm
  • Leaf: up to 20 cm long and 15 cm wide, five-lobed, dark green on top, lighter underneath
  • Flowers: only from the age of 25, yellow-green, inconspicuous, panicles
  • Flowering time: May
  • Fruit: Wingnuts with 2 nutlets, one per wing
  • Location: sunny to semi-shady, sufficiently humid, needs a lot of space, likes lime, undemanding, fresh or moist, deep
  • Particularities: Fruits, cotyledons and leaves are poisonous for horses

Notice: Many maple species form large leaves. If you don't like the sycamore, you can bet in a different way.

Bluebell tree (Paulownia tomentosa)

  • Distribution: western to central China
  • Habit: upright, loose crown, richly branched, fast-growing, young twigs develop glandular hairs with sticky secretion, summer green
  • Growth height: 1,500 to 5,000 cm
  • Growth width: 500 to 1,200 cm
  • Leaf: 12 to 90 cm long (depending on age), up to 20 cm wide, heart-shaped, soft, slightly hairy, dark green on top, lighter underneath
  • Flowers: in fives, bell-shaped flowers in clusters, white, light pink, lilac, blue-lilac, pleasantly scented with vanilla
  • Flowering time: April to mid-May
  • Location: sunny, warm, sheltered, does not tolerate frosty winds, undemanding, likes lime, well-drained, fresh

Breadfruit tree (Artocarpus altilis)

  • Distribution: Polynesia (original), Hawaii
  • Habit: upright, broad crown, buttress roots are rarely formed, evergreen
  • Growth height: 300 to 3,000 cm (remains small in indoor culture)
  • Leaf: 30 to 90 cm long, ovate, leathery, deep green
  • Flower: female heads in green, male spadix in yellow
  • Flowering time: mostly over the summer or three times a year
  • Fruit: round, up to 30 cm in diameter, weighs up to 6 kg, edible, nutritious staple food in Asia, yellow-green
  • Location: sunny, warm, sufficiently humid, avoid strong midday sun, nutritious, well-drained
  • Special features: not hardy, flowers and fruit develop in Central Europe only with a lot of luck, develops milky sap that irritates the skin

E to F

Elephant foot (Beaucarnea recurvata)

  • Distribution: Veracruz (state in Mexico)
  • Growth: upright, succulent, slender, slightly branched, evergreen
  • Growth height: up to 900 cm
  • Growth width: 30 to 120 cm
  • Leaf: 75 to 180 cm long, up to 2 cm wide, thin, green
  • Flowers: Panicles or ovate, up to 100 cm long, sessile
  • Flowering period: mid-August to mid-September
  • Location: full sun, warm to hot, no direct midday sun, protect from drafts, well-drained, loose
  • Special features: not hardy, min. 10°C

Vinegar (Rhus typhina)

  • Distribution: Eastern North America
  • Habit: multiple stems, sprawling, broad crown, runner-forming, deciduous
  • Growth height: 300 to 1,200 cm
  • Growth width: 300 to 600 cm
  • Leaf: 15 to 60 cm long and up to 20 cm wide, pinnate, intense green
  • Flowers: spikes, yellow-green to yellow, up to 25 cm long
  • Flowering period: June to mid-July
  • Fruit: drupes, red, hairy
  • Location: sunny, undemanding, suitable for numerous locations, urban climate resistant
  • Special features: fruits remain on the tree over winter, ideal food for birds, all parts of the plant are poisonous to mammals

Fig (Ficus carica)

  • Distribution: Western Asia, Mediterranean area
  • Habit: wide spherical crown, low, spreading, gnarled or twisted trunk, summer green
  • Growth height: 300 to 1,000 cm
  • Growth width: 150 to 500 cm
  • Leaf: 10 to 20 cm wide and long, ovate, three to seven lobes, palmate, light green
  • Flowers: Cup-shaped flowers, inconspicuous, green
  • Flowering time: March to July
  • Fruit: Achenes, edible, green to purple, you can feel the seeds when eating, red flesh
  • Location: full sun, sheltered, loamy, nutritious, humic
  • Special features: not hardy until the age of 10, fruit formation only possible after oviposition and pollination by the fig gall wasp (Blastophaga psenes).

Flame tree (Delonix regia)

  • Distribution: Madagascar
  • Habit: hemispherical crown, upright, sprawling, deciduous or evergreen
  • Growth height: 1,200 to 2,000 cm
  • Growth width: up to 1,000 cm
  • Leaf: 10 to 60 cm long and 20 cm wide, pinnate, up to 20 pairs of leaves, green
  • Flowers: zygomorphic, fivefold, single flowers in dense racemes, orange to red
  • Flowering period: June to August
  • Location: sunny, ideal at min. 10°C, humic, well-drained, loose, airy
  • Special features: not hardy, only suitable for keeping in tubs

G to L

Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)

  • Distribution: Balkan Peninsula
  • Growth: upright, tall, broad crown, summer green
  • Growth height: 2,000 to 3,000 cm
  • Growth width: 1,500 to 2,000 cm
  • Leaf: 10 to 20 cm long and up to 10 cm wide, pinnate, intense green
  • Flowers: Panicle flowers in "candles", numerous, in fives, white
  • Flowering time: April to May
  • Fruit: Green skin with thorns, up to 4 cm in diameter, seeds are shiny hazel with a light spot
  • Location: sunny to shady, moist or fresh, loamy to sandy, permeable, deep

Cucumber tree (Averrhoa bilimbi)

  • Distribution: Southeast Asia
  • Growth: upright, multi-stemmed, twigs hairy, evergreen
  • Growth height: up to 1,500 cm
  • Leaf: up to 65 cm long and up to 20 cm wide, imparipinnate, green, finely hairy
  • Flowers: Racemes or panicles with 15 to 20 flowers, fivefold, radially symmetrical, pleasantly fragrant, green to red
  • Flowering time: summer
  • Location: full sun, warm, sheltered from the wind, humidity of at least 70 percent, permeable, loose, humus-rich, airy
  • Special features: not hardy, edible fruits (similar to cucumbers)

Indian banana (Asimina triloba)

  • Distribution: North America
  • Habit: multiple stems, closed crown, oval or pyramidal, deciduous
  • Growth height: 400 to 1,300 cm
  • Leaf: 10 to 30 cm long and up to 15 cm wide, ovate or lanceolate, obverse, intense green
  • Flower: Bell-shaped flowers, solitary, rusty or crimson
  • Flowering time: May
  • Site: sunny, protect from midday sun, moderately moist, loamy, sandy, undemanding

Mango (Mangif.webpera indica)

  • Distribution: India to Southeast Asia
  • Habit: upright, fast-growing, round crown, spreading, summer green
  • Growth height: up to 3,500 cm
  • Leaf: up to 30 cm long and 8 cm wide, leathery, deep green, waxy to shiny, pointed
  • Flowers: in panicles or pyramids, inconspicuous, up to 6,000 flowers per inflorescence, green to red
  • Flowering time: June
  • Fruit: drupe, ovoid or pear-shaped, up to 20 cm long, edible, sweet
  • Location: bright, protect from direct midday sun, warm, loose, humic
  • Special features: not hardy, fruits only with luck

M to S

Mulberries (Morus alba)

  • Distribution: Holarctic excluding Europe
  • Growth: one or more stems, broad crown, dense, deciduous
  • Growth height: 500 to 1,500 cm
  • Leaf: 10 to 15 cm long and up to 10 cm wide, toothed, three to five in number, ovoid or heart-shaped, green
  • Flowers: spikes, heads or catkins, fourfold, white to green
  • Flowering period: May to mid-June
  • Fruit: pseudofruit, resemble blackberries, color depends on species (white, yellow-red, red, purple, black-purple, black), edible
  • Location: sunny, sheltered, moist, rich in nutrients
    from R to Z

Rice paper tree (Tetrapanax papyrifer)

  • Distribution: China
  • Habit: Small tree, fast-growing, evergreen, with woolly hairs
  • Growth height: 300 to 500 cm
  • Leaf: up to 50 cm long and 40 to 75 cm wide, reminiscent of palm leaves,
  • Flowers: Panicle flowers, inconspicuous, radially symmetrical, fivefold, white-yellow to white-green
  • Flowering period: October to December
  • Location: sunny to semi-shady, moist, well-drained
  • Special features: not frost-resistant

Red oak (Quercus rubra)

  • Distribution: Eastern North America
  • Habit: upright, round crown, fast-growing, sprawling, stem up to 2 m in diameter, large leaves
  • Growth height: 2,000 to 3,500 cm
  • Growth width: 1,000 to 1,800 cm
  • Leaf: up to 23 cm long and 10 cm wide, lobed on both sides, four to five lobes, pointed, green, intense orange to red in autumn
  • Flowers: male catkins hanging, female catkins sitting, yellow-green
  • Flowering time: May
  • Location: sunny to shady, warm, needs a lot of space, undemanding, adaptable

Red sandalwood (Adenanthera pavonina)

  • Distribution: India
  • Growth: upright, scaly bark, deciduous, secretes an exudate (cinema)
  • Growth height: 1,000 to 1,500 cm
  • Leaf: 10 to 18 cm long, in threes, leathery, green
  • Flowers: in racemes, butterfly flowers, yellow, pleasantly fragrant
  • Flowering time: February to April
  • Location: sunny to shady, warm, humic, well-drained
  • Special features: not hardy

T to Z

Teak tree (Tectona grandis)

  • Distribution: South Asia, Southeast Asia
  • Habit: upright, high crown, shady crown, semi-evergreen
  • Growth height: 2,500 to 4,000 cm
  • Leaf: 25 to 60 cm long and 20 to 40 cm wide, leathery, elliptical to round, deep green
  • Flowers: inconspicuous, white, in panicles, numerous, pleasantly fragrant
  • Flowering period: June to September
  • Location: sunny, permanently hard 21°C to 26°C, deep, airy, sandy
  • Special features: not hardy

Trumpet tree (Catalpa bignonioides)

  • Distribution: Southeastern USA
  • Habit: short stem, upright, spreading, wide, irregular crown, sagging branches possible, summer green
  • Growth height: 1,500 to 1,800 cm
  • Leaf: 10 to 20 cm long and up to 10 cm wide, pointed, heart-shaped, dark green on top, lighter underneath
  • Flowers: in panicles, bell-shaped flowers, white with a crimson calyx, fivefold
  • Flowering period: June to late July
  • Location: sunny to semi-shady, sheltered from the wind, undemanding

Turi tree (Sesbania grandiflora)

  • Distribution: India, Southeast Asia
  • Habit: Small tree, fast-growing, loosely branched, semi-evergreen
  • Growth height: 800 to 1,500 cm
  • Leaf: 15 to 35 cm long and up to 10 cm wide, pinnate, with pairs of leaves, deep green
  • Flowers: in racemes with 2 to 5 butterfly flowers, zygomorphic, white, pink, red
  • Flowering time: possible all year round
  • Location: sunny to shady, warm, humic, airy, permeable
  • Special features: not hardy, min. 10°C

grapevine (Vitis vinifera)

  • Distribution: Central Europe and Mediterranean regions to Western Asia, South Africa's Western Cape
  • Habit: Shrub or tree (vine), fast-growing, has tendrils, shoots are glabrous or slightly felt-like, evergreen or deciduous, large leaves
  • Growth height: up to 2,000 cm (trailing), 80 to 150 cm (tree)
  • Growth width: depending on growth form, 50 to 60 cm (tree)
  • Leaf: up to 15 cm in diameter, heart-shaped, round, three to five lobes, rich green
  • Flowers: yellow-green panicles, pleasantly fragrant
  • Flowering time: mid-May to August (strongly dependent on the variety)
  • Fruit: oval to round, 5 to 20 mm long, green, yellow, purple or dark blue,
  • Location: full sun, warm, ideal in front of a house wall, sheltered, undemanding, permeable, profound, mineral
  • Special features: available in numerous varieties (wine and table grapes).

Notice: The number of grape seeds depends on the variety. Table grapes often contain no seeds, wine grapes up to 4 seeds.

frequently asked Questions

Which tree has the largest leaves?

The tree with the largest leaves is known by the botanical name Coccoloba gigantifolia. The knotweed plant (Polygonaceae) from the Amazon rainforest forms leaves that are 250 centimeters long and 140 centimeters wide. Grown people can hide behind this one.

What must be considered when caring for large-leaved trees?

Trees with large leaves require larger amounts of water because they evaporate more moisture. Especially when keeping large-leaved trees in containers, you must regularly check the substrate for dryness. Depending on the species, it is advisable to spray the leaves with water. This method works well for tropical plants.

Are palm trees trees?

No. Although palms (Arecaceae) form a trunk and have large leaves, they do not become lignified like trees. Palms are similar in growth to grasses (Poales), with which they are also more closely related. As an alternative to trees, you can of course cultivate palms such as bananas (Musa) or palmettos (Sabal palmetto), which have large palm fronds.

Category:

Garden plants