BY KAT PEARSON, GIRL IN THE GREEN
“Jacaranda!!!” That is what my sister and I would yell out every time we saw the purple haze of a jacaranda tree. It was a game to see who could say it the fastest when a tree was spotted – and you said it once for every tree. I’m not sure if this was a legitimate game or something my mum made up to keep us occupied in the car. Considering the avenue of jacaranda trees that lined the street of our primary school and the ensuing month of car-chaos when she took us to school, I suspect she regretted it either way.
Jacarandas (Jacaranda mimosifolia) are an introduced species (from Brazil) and are actually classified as a weed in Queensland due to their ability to happily self-seed and take over native vegetation. They’re an iconic weed, though. Grafton and Ipswich even have celebrations and festivals in October/November to celebrate these special trees that drop all their foliage, covering everything below them in teeny tiny leaves that block all sorts of gutters and downpipes, then put on a fabulous show of little mauve trumpet-shaped flowers that eventually fall and become a brown slushy mess all over the pavement. Most people still love them, though. At least from afar.
Jacarandas are in the Bignoniaceae family, which includes other trees such as Tabebuia (also flowering now) and vines, such as our native Pandorea and the classic orange trumpet vine (Campsis radicans). Take a closer look at the trumpet-like flower shape next time you get a chance, and you will see the similarities.
Jacarandas are a fast-growing tree, generally up to 15 metres with a canopy just as wide and an extensive root system. There are now more compact dwarf varieties available, and even the rarer white jacaranda, which is the same species, just a special cultivar with white flowers instead of the typical purple. While they are beautiful, I think it’s the purple colour that makes Jacarandas special.
Sadly, many of us do not have the space for a Jacaranda, but there’s no reason we can’t enjoy the magic of the trees that are already here. “Jacaranda!!!”
