[1] It consists of 30 species of trees, known in Latin America by the common names poui, pau d'arco, or ipê.

[3] Handroanthus was resurrected in 2007 when a comparison of DNA sequences by cladistic methods showed that Tabebuia, as then circumscribed, was not monophyletic.

Handroanthus are frequently cultivated far from their natural range, as ornamental trees, for their large and showy flowers.

Handroanthus is widely used as an ornamental tree in the tropics in landscaping gardens, public squares, and boulevards due to its impressive and colorful flowering.

Many flowers appear on still-leafless stems at the end of the dry season, making the floral display more conspicuous.

Handroanthus and the unrelated Guaiacum (Zygophyllaceae) produce the hardest, heaviest, and most durable wood of the American tropics.

[7] Dead trees of Handroanthus guayacan remain standing after they were killed by flooding of their habitat during construction of the Panama Canal.

Starting in the late 1960s, importing companies targeted large boardwalk projects to sell ipê, beginning with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, which maintains the city's boardwalks, including along the beach of Coney Island.

La Sultana, a yacht refashioned from a Soviet spy vessel, was fitted with an ipê deck during its restoration.

Tea from the inner bark of pink ipê (Handroanthus impetiginosus) is known as pau d'arco, lapacho, or taheebo.

[15] The nectar of Handroanthus flowers is an important food source for several species of bees and hummingbirds.

[citation needed] Because of its popularity, Handroanthus has often been adopted as a symbol or emblem for nations or other political divisions.

Alwyn H. Gentry objected strenuously and warned against "succumbing to further paroxysms of unwarranted splitting".

[18] In 1992, Gentry published a full taxonomic treatment of Tabebuia, in which he described 99 species and one hybrid for the genus.

In 2007, a molecular phylogenetic study resolved Tabebuia as consisting of three strongly supported clades, none of which was sister to either of the others.