Laburnum musical instruments. In addition to such wind instruments as recorders and flutes, it was a popular wood for Great Highland Bagpipes before taste turned to imported dense tropical hardwoods such as "Brya ebenus" (cocus wood), ebony, and "Dalbergia melanoxylon" (African monkeywood). The heart-wood of a laburnum may be used as a substitute for ebony or rosewood. It is very hard and a dark chocolate brown, with a butter-yellow sapwood. "Laburnum" species and hybrids are cultivated as ornamental trees for gardens and parks. They are also trained as espaliers on pergolas, for ceilings of pendant flowers in season. In its natural
Laburnum anagyroides in one of his poems: The writer J. R. R. Tolkien was inspired by the "laburnum" for his creation of Laurelin, one of the two mythological trees in "The Silmarillion", and Tolkien's description of it is strongly influenced by Thompson's verses. Laburnum anagyroides Laburnum anagyroides, the common laburnum, golden chain or golden rain, is a species in the subfamily Faboideae, and genus "Laburnum". "Laburnum alpinum" is closely related. It is native to Central and Southern Europe. The plant grows and flowers in damp and mild habitats, especially in the calcareous soils of Southern Europe. The plant is a small deciduous