A lot of visitors and nonresidents say that Maui and the other Hawaiian islands don’t have “real” seasons because the weather is so uniformly mild and the trees and flowers are always in bloom. While seasonal changes tend to be more subtle here than in places like the Rocky Mountains of North America, we do have one harbinger of Spring whose onset is none too subtle: The Blue Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia).
Beginning in April and lasting well into June, the numerous Jacaranda groves growing on the drier upland slopes of Haleakala (about 2000-3000 feet in altitude) turn a vibrant purplish blue from the thousands of new blossoms that appear on each tree.
The Jacaranda is native to subtropical regions of South America (most notably Brazil and Argentina). Although it is quite drought tolerant and actually thrives in poor soil, it has only become truly naturalized in two places in the northern part of the Western Hemisphere: Florida and Hawai’i. This is because it does not tolerate sustained temperatures below about 20 degrees F (-7 C). However, well-established mature trees can tolerate short cold snaps, so the Jacaranda also grows well in parts of central and southern California, and southern Texas. It has become an invasive species in South Africa and is proving very difficult to control because that country affords the Jacaranda such ideal growing conditions.
The Blue Jacaranda is known to exceed 50 feet (15 m) in height, but its crown will easily spread to more than 80 feet (25 m). Its bark is thin, greyish-brown in color, and very smooth when the tree is young, eventually developing a more scaly texture with age.
The flowers are roughly tubular in shape, as much as 5 cm long, and are grouped in 30-cm bunches of blossoms called panicles. The tree sets blossoms in spring and early summer that may last for more than two months.
Toward the end of the seasonal blooming, many flat, ear-shaped woody seed pods appear on the branches, These are about 5 cm in diameter and contain many winged seeds that are easily carried on the wind when the pods split open and disgorge the seeds. [ Photo below provided courtesy of Forrest & Kim Starr ]
One of the disadvantages of using Blue Jacarandas as an ornamental tree in an urban environment is the large quantities of dead blossoms, twigs, and spent seed pods shed by the tree at the end of the growth season that litter the ground around the trees. Many municipalities in the southern and western United States put up with this minor inconvenience because the evergreen foliage of the tree is very attractive even when the blossoms have all gone. [ Photo below provided courtesy of Forrest & Kim Starr. Website: http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/index.html ]
Tags: Blue Jacaranda, Jacaranda, Jacaranda mimosifolia, panicles
