Jacaranda mimosifolia

The tree grows to a height of up to {{convert|20|m|ft|abbr=on}}.[http://www.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Jacaranda_mimosifolia.PDF Agroforestry Database 4.0 (Orwa et al. 2009)] Its bark is thin and gray-brown, smooth when the tree is young but eventually becoming finely scaly. The twigs are slender and slightly zigzag; they are a light reddish-brown. The flowers are up to {{convert|5|cm|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, and are grouped in {{convert|30|cm|in|abbr=on|adj=on}} panicles. They appear in spring and early summer, and last for up to two months. They are followed by woody seed pods, about {{convert|5|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} in diameter, which contain numerous flat, winged seeds. The blue jacaranda is cultivated for the sake of its large compound leaves, even in areas where it rarely blooms. The leaves are up to {{convert|45|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and bi-pinnately compound, with leaflets little more than {{convert|1|cm|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long. There is a white form available from nurseries.

The unusually shaped, tough pods, which are {{convert|2|to|3|in|cm|disp=flip|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} across, are often gathered, cleaned and used to decorate Christmas trees and dried arrangements.

File:Jacaranda mimosifolia fruits (opened and closed) 3.jpeg|J. mimosifolia fruits

File:Jacaranda Seed Pod.jpg|A jacaranda seed pod

File:Early jacaranda sprout with second round of leaf growth (cropped).jpg|Early jacaranda sprout

Image:Jacaranda1212.jpg|Tree in flower in Whakatāne, New Zealand

Image:Jacaranda bhutan.jpg|Jacaranda trees in Bhutan

File:Jacaranda mimosifolia00.jpg

The wood is pale grey to whitish, straight-grained, relatively soft and knot-free. It dries without difficulty and is often used in its green or wet state for turnery and bowl carving.

Jacaranda mimosifolia is native to southern Brazil, Paraguay, northern Argentina (Salta, Jujuy, Catamarca and Misiones provinces) and southern Bolivia. It is found in the Dry Chaco and flooded savannas, and in the Southern Andean Yungas of the eastern Andean piedmont and inter-Andean valleys, up to 2600 meters elevation. In its native range the tree is threatened by uncontrolled logging and clearing of land for agriculture, and is assessed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List.

The jacaranda is regarded as an invasive species in parts of South Africa and Queensland, Australia, where it can out-compete native species.{{cite web |title=Jacaranda mimosifolia (Jacaranda) |url=https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/eafrinet/weeds/key/weeds/Media/Html/Jacaranda_mimosifolia_(Jacaranda).htm |publisher=BioNET-EAFRINET |access-date=2021-10-30}}

The taxonomic status of the blue jacaranda is unsettled. ITIS regards the older name, J. acutifolia, as a synonym for J. mimosifolia. However, some modern taxonomists maintain the distinction between these two species, regarding them as geographically distinct: J. acutifolia is endemic to Peru, while J. mimosifolia is native to Bolivia and Argentina. If this distinction is made, cultivated forms should be treated as J. mimosifolia, since they are believed to derive from Argentine stock. Other synonyms for the blue jacaranda are J. chelonia and J. ovalifolia. The blue jacaranda belongs to the section Monolobos of the genus Jacaranda.

The blue jacaranda has been cultivated in almost every part of the world where there is no risk of frost; established trees, however, tolerate brief spells of temperatures down to around {{convert|-7|C|F}}.{{cite book| title=Sunset Western Garden Book| author=Kathleen Norris Brenzel| publisher=Sunset Publishing Group| year=2007| page=415}} Even when young trees are damaged by a hard frost and suffer dieback, they will often rebound from the roots and grow in a shrub-like, multi-stemmed form. However, flowering and growth will be stunted if the jacaranda is grown directly on the California coast, where a lack of heat combined with cool ocean winds discourages flowering.

This plant has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/9429/Jacaranda-mimosifolia/Details | title = Jacaranda mimosifolia | website = www.rhs.org | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 25 September 2020}}

File:New Farm Park Jacaranda-001+ (273298097).jpg in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia]]

Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, is popularly known as Jacaranda City because of the large number of trees, which turn the city blue and purple when they flower in spring. The jacaranda trees, far from their native south-central South America (southern Brazil, Paraguay, northern Argentina and southern Bolivia), bloom every October. Water scarcity has South Africa trying to eradicate foreign species of plants and trees, including the jacaranda. Acknowledging the tree's popularity with locals, the government announced in the early 2000s that it would not remove the trees, but banned the planting of new ones.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0803/p7s1.html|title = South Africa's deep-rooted problem: Unwelcome trees|journal = Christian Science Monitor|date = 3 August 2001}} By 2016, this decision was reversed and jacarandas were again allowed to be planted in urban environments in some provinces.{{Cite web |last=Import |first=Pongrass |date=2019-11-13 |title=Confusion over jacarandas |url=https://rosebankkillarneygazette.co.za/264799/confusion-over-jacarandas/ |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=Rosebank Killarney Gazette |language=en-US}}

File:"Under the Jacaranda" by R Godfrey Rivers - Queensland Art Gallery - Joy of Museums - 2.jpg Brisbane, painted by Richard Godfrey Rivers in 1903]]The first jacaranda bloomed in Sydney, Australia in about 1850. An 1865 report mentioned that Sydneysiders were visiting the Botanic Garden to see the tree's "luxuriant blossom". The same tree is now over 175 years old, and protected by ropes to prevent it falling apart.{{Cite web |last=Power |first=Julie |date=2023-10-20 |title=Sydney's lesser known jacaranda hotspots and why trees are good for your health |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-s-lesser-known-jacaranda-hotspots-and-why-trees-are-good-for-your-health-20231017-p5ed05.html |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} In the early 20th Century, Margaret Fell, wife of John Fell, was significant in boosting the popularity of jacarandas. Many of the trees in the avenue of jacarandas, at Grafton, were grown from seed of the trees that she grew in the garden of the Fells' home, 'Rostrevor', at Northwood.{{Cite news |date=1937-12-15 |title=JACARANDA TREE |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article194419989 |access-date=2022-04-19 |work=Daily Examiner |pages=9}}

Jacarandas were first introduced to Brisbane in 1864, and there are guides tours of the best locations to view the flowers.{{Cite web |last=Kruk |first=Courtney |date=2023-10-12 |title=Our relationship with jacarandas runs deeper than what meets the eye |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/our-relationship-with-jacarandas-runs-deeper-than-what-meets-the-eye-20231010-p5eb0l.html |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} The city of Grafton on the north coast of New South Wales has a jacaranda festival each year in late October and early November.{{cite web |url= http://www.jacarandafestival.org.au/ |title= Jacaranda Festival Grafton |access-date= 2016-09-14 |archive-date= 2010-09-21 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100921223739/http://www.jacarandafestival.org.au/ |url-status= dead }}

In the United States, the jacaranda is grown extensively in California, the Southwest, southeast Texas and Florida.{{cite web|author=Edward F. Gilman and Dennis G. Watson2|date=November 1993|title=Jacaranda Mimosifolia Fact Sheet|url=https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/database/documents/pdf/tree_fact_sheets/jacmima.pdf|access-date=2019-02-21|publisher=hort.ifas.ufl.edu}} Jacaranda can be found throughout most of Southern California, where they were imported by the horticulturalist Kate Sessions.{{cite news|last=Howser|first=Huell|title=#15006 Jacaranda|url=http://www.calgold.com/calgold/|newspaper=California's Gold|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112233530/http://www.calgold.com/calgold/|archive-date=2013-01-12}} They are also planted as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area and along the frost-free coastal regions of Northern California.{{cite news|author=Buzz Bertolero|date=2006-10-06|title=Jacaranda trees growing in popularity in Bay Area|publisher=East Bay Times|url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2006/10/07/jacaranda-trees-growing-in-popularity-in-bay-area/|access-date=2019-02-21}} In San Francisco, they can only be grown in the city's warmest microclimates, such as Potrero Hill and the Mission District.{{cite book| title=Trees of San Francisco| author=Michael Sullivan| publisher=Wilderness Press| year=2013| page=44}} Phoenix, Arizona, and San Diego, California, are known for them. They also grow in Hawaii.

It is one of the most common trees in Argentina's capital city, Buenos Aires.[https://www.lanacion.com.ar/lifestyle/jacaranda-asi-es-arbol-tine-cubre-ciudad-nid2187175 La Nación - August 28th, 2019] Jacarandas can also be found in many parts of Mexico City and are usually in full bloom in March.{{cn|date=December 2023}}

In Europe the jacaranda is grown on the Mediterranean coast of Spain (it is prominent in the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands and Andalusia, with especially large specimens present in Valencia, Alicante and Seville, and usually with earlier flowering than in the rest of Europe), in southern Portugal (notably in Lisbon), southern Italy (Naples and Cagliari have many mature specimens), southern Greece (especially Athens) and the islands of Malta and Cyprus.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

Jacarandas are also common in cities across Southern Africa. They were introduced to Cape Town; then Johannesburg; Lusaka, Zambia; Gaborone, Botswana; Nairobi, Kenya; and Harare, Zimbabwe. Beyond the region, Jacaranda are also cultivated in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal and Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Jharkhand states in India. They are also a common sight in Israel, mainly in the towns and cities of the coastal plain. As mentioned above, the trees are best associated with spring in the cities of Pretoria and Harare, the respective capitals of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The Australian Christmas song "Christmas Where the Gum Trees Grow" makes reference to jacaranda trees, as the blooms are only seen in summer time—as the song explains, "When the bloom of the jacaranda tree is here, Christmas time is near".{{cite web |title=CHRISTMAS WHERE THE GUM TREES GROW - Lyrics |url=http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/xmas/christmaswherethegumtreesgrow.shtml |publisher=International Lyrics Playground |access-date=June 16, 2022}}

The movie musical Encanto, set in Colombia, references the plant in the song "What Else Can I Do". Isabela Madrigal explores her plant-summoning powers, she creates, and mentions by line, "a hurricane of jacarandas".{{Cite web |title=Diane Guerrero & Stephanie Beatriz – What Else Can I Do?|url=https://genius.com/Diane-guerrero-and-stephanie-beatriz-what-else-can-i-do-lyrics|access-date=2022-01-26}}

References to the jacaranda plant recur in the musical work of Trevor Rabin, providing the title of his 2012 solo album and also appearing in the lyrics of "I'm Running", a song which he co-wrote and performed as part of Yes and which appeared on their 1987 album Big Generator. The plant has also lent its name to his home studio, The Jacaranda Room.

In Argentina, María Elena Walsh dedicated her song "Canción del Jacarandá" to the tree. Writer Alejandro Dolina, in his book Crónicas del Ángel Gris (Chronicles of the Gray Angel), tells the legend of a massive jacarandá tree, planted in Plaza Flores in Buenos Aires, that was able to whistle tango songs on demand. Miguel Brascó's folk song "Santafesino de veras" mentions the aroma of jacarandá as a defining feature of the littoral Santa Fe Province (along with the willows growing by the rivers).

File:Buenos Aires - Avenida Santa Fe entre Maipú y Esmeralda.jpg, Buenos Aires. Its blooms were popularly associated with exam time.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-37819712|title=Australians mourn tree that 'failed' university students|date=2016-10-31 |publisher=BBC News|language=en-GB |access-date=2016-10-31}} The tree collapsed in October 2016.{{Cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2016/10/29/university-community-mourns-jacaranda-tree-collapse.html |title=University community mourns jacaranda tree collapse |publisher=The University of Sydney|access-date=2016-11-06}}]]

The University of Queensland in Brisbane is particularly well known for its ornamental jacarandas, and a common maxim among students holds that the blooming of the jacarandas signals the time for serious study for end-of-year exams; the jacaranda when in bloom is also known as the exam tree.[http://www.uq.edu.au/centenary/jacaranda-and-sandstone UQ Centenary 2010 - Jacaranda and Sandstone] Purple panic is a term used by students in south-east Queensland for student stress during the period of late spring and early summer. The "purple" refers to the flowers of Jacaranda trees, which bloom at that time and have been extensively planted throughout that district. The "panic" refers to the need to be completing assignments and studying for final exams.{{cite web |url=http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/jacarandas-signal-purple-panic/398281/ |title=Jacarandas signal 'purple panic' |work=The Chronicle |access-date=29 February 2016 |archive-date=30 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030174431/https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/jacarandas-signal-purple-panic/398281/ |url-status=dead }}

There is a similar maxi concerning the jacaranda at the University of Sydney, in the main quadrangle, which was planted by E.G Waterhouse in 1928.

Conversely, while the time of year the jacarandas bloom in Pretoria coincides with the year-end exams at the University of Pretoria, legend has it there that if a flower from a jacaranda drops on a student's head, the student will pass all their exams.{{cite web |url=http://www.sapeople.com/2014/10/27/jacarandas-bloom-exams-start-south-africa/ |title=It's Purple Paradise as Jacarandas Bloom & Exams start soon! |publisher=SA people NEWS |access-date=29 February 2016|date=2014-10-27 }}{{cite web |url=http://showme.co.za/pretoria/tourism/the-jacaranda-city/ |title=The Jacaranda City |publisher=ShowMe South Africa |access-date=29 February 2016}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Jacaranda mimosifolia}}

• {{cite iucn |author=Hills, R. |date=2020 |title=Jacaranda mimosifolia |volume=2020 |page=e.T32027A68135641 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T32027A68135641.en |access-date=12 November 2021}} Listed as Vulnerable (VU B1+2ac v2.3){{AfricanPlants|Jacaranda mimosifolia}}

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mimosifolia

Category:Medicinal plants

Category:Ornamental trees

Category:Trees of Argentina

Category:Trees of Bolivia

Category:Trees of Brazil

Category:Trees of temperate climates

Category:Vulnerable plants

Category:Trees of mild maritime climate

Category:Gran Chaco

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