Jacaranda, tree of Angelic Beauty

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Jacaranda Trees along a Street

Seeds, fruits and foliage feed  the body
Beauty of  flowers feeds the soul
Jacaranda is a flowering tree in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of  South America. It has been planted widely in Asia and Australia now. Jacaranda can be propagated from grafting, cuttings and seeds though plants grown from seeds take a long time to bloom. Jacaranda grows in well drained soil and tolerates drought and brief spells of frost and freeze. Several are widely grown as ornamental trees throughout the subtropical regions of the world because of their intense flower displays. It has a delicate and pretty foliage too and makes a great potted plant as well until it grows to a height of three feet or so at which time it must be transferred to garden, park or the forest. 

Blue Jacaranda is used in medicine and industry. It’s wood, in a cream and pink tone and pleasant smell, is used in cabinet making and carpentry, specially in the automotive industry for luxury cars. The method of using jacarandas as medicine varies. Some experts use essential oils derived from the leaves, others from bark, seeds aka fruits that look like a cross between a tiny turtle shell and a nut or flowers. Others use, instead, a water extract of any of these same parts. Either by use internally or externally, however, Brazilians--where the jacaranda originated--among others in natural healing fields proclaim its efficacy in treating bacterial infections as well as gonorrhea and syphilis. Since about one-third of the world population is allergic to penicillin--the primary drug used in fighting these venereal diseases as well as other infections--it is beneficial to have the option offered by the jacaranda Mimosifolia.

The tree in bloom with its soft blue flowers is an exhilarating and divine sight. In a novella first published in 1992 (Mystic and the Blossoms) this author described a village road with Jacaranda on both sides and shedding masss of blooms on the road. Since then either because of this story or otherwise the practice has been adopted on many other beautiful roads around the world.

Jacaranda leaves and flowers

Images from:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jacaranda_mimosifolia_flowers_and_leaves.jpg
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

http://www.clarencetourism.com/events/grafton-jacaranda-festival/p/702

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