Jacaranda

Jacaranda is a genus of 49 species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of Mexico, Central America, South America, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. It has been planted widely in Asia, especially in Nepal. Jacaranda mimosifolia is quite common and often used for street trees in the southern and western parts of the USA, and in southern Europe, South Africa and Australia, and widely in southern Brazil. It is also known as the blue jacaranda, black poui, or as the fern tree. Older sources give it the systematic name Jacaranda acutifolia, but it is nowadays more usually classified as Jacaranda mimosifolia. In many parts of the world, such as Mexico and South Africa, it is regarded as an invasive species.

Description

Jacarandas grow to 5–18 m (16–59 ft) tall. The leaves are bipinnate in most species, pinnate or simple in a few species. The flowers are produced in conspicuous large panicles, each flower with a five-lobed blue to purple-blue corolla; a few species have white flowers. The fruit is an oblong to oval flattened capsule containing numerous slender seeds. The genus differs from other genera in the Bignoniaceae in having a staminode that is longer than the stamens, tricolpate pollen, and a chromosome number of 18.

Cultivation and uses

Several species are widely grown as ornamental plants throughout the subtropical regions of the world, valued for their intense flower displays. The most often seen is the Blue Jacaranda. Some are also commercially important; for example the Jacaranda copaia is important for its timber because of its exceptionally long bole.

Species

The genus is divided into two sections, sect. Jacaranda (syn. sect. Monolobos, sect. Dilobos DC.), which contains 18 species, and sect. Dilobos DC., containing around 31 species.

External links

• Jacaranda at the United States Department of Agriculture
• Jacaranda at the Missouri Botanical Garden

Jacaranda Resources
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