Jacaranda Elegans

''Jacaranda'' is a genus of 49 species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. The generic name is also used as the common name.

The species '' Jacaranda mimosifolia'' has achieved a cosmopolitan distribution due to introductions, to the extent that it has entered popular culture. It can be found growing wild in Central America, the Caribbean, Spain, southern Africa, China, and Australia.

Etymology

The name is of South American (more specifically Tupi-Guarani) origin, meaning fragrant. The word ''jacaranda'' was described in ''A supplement to Mr. Chambers's Cyclopædia'', 1st ed., (1753) as "a name given by some authors to the tree the wood of which is the log-wood, used in dyeing and medicine" and as being of Tupi-Guarani origin, by way of Portuguese. Although not consistent with the Guarani source, one common pronunciation of the name in English is given by .

Description

The species are shrubs to large trees ranging in size from 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.

Taxonomy

The genus is divided into two sections, sect. ''Monolobos'' and sect. ''Dilobos'' DC., based on the number of thecae on the anthers. Sect. ''Monolobos'' has 18 species and is found primarily in western South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Sect. ''Dilobos'', which is believed to be the primitive form, has 31 species and is found primarily in southeastern Brazil including the Paraná River valley. The anatomy of the wood in the two sections also differs. Although usually treated in sect. ''Monolobos'', ''J. copaia'' differs somewhat from all other members of the genus and may be intermediate between the two sections (Dos Santos & Miller 1997).

Species

Sect. ''Monolobos''

* ''Jacaranda acutifolia'' Bonpl.
* ''Jacaranda arborea'' Urb.
* ''Jacaranda brasiliana'' (Lam.) Pers.
* '' Jacaranda caerulea'' (L.) J.St.-Hil.
* '' Jacaranda caucana'' Pittier
* ''Jacaranda copaia'' (Aubl.) D.Don
* ''Jacaranda cowellii'' Britton & P.Wilson
* '' Jacaranda cuspidifolia'' Mart. ex DC.
* ''Jacaranda decurrens'' Cham.
* ''Jacaranda ekmanii'' Alain
* ''Jacaranda hesperia'' Dugand.
* '' Jacaranda mimosifolia'' D.Don
* ''Jacaranda obtusifolia'' Humboldt & Bonpl.
* ''Jacaranda orinocensis'' Sandw.
* '' Jacaranda poitaei'' Urb.
* '' Jacaranda praetermissa'' Sandw.
* '' Jacaranda selleana'' Urb.
* '' Jacaranda sparrei'' A.H.Gentry

Sect. ''Dilobos''

* ''Jacaranda bracteata'' Bur. & K.Schum.
* '' Jacaranda bullata'' A.H.Gentry
* ''Jacaranda campinae'' A.Gentry & Morawetz
* '' Jacaranda carajasensis'' A.Gentry
* ''Jacaranda caroba'' (Vell.) DC.
* '' Jacaranda crassifolia'' Morawetz
* '' Jacaranda duckei'' Vattimo
* '' Jacaranda egleri'' Sandwith
* '' Jacaranda glabra'' (DC.) Bur. & K.Schum.
* '' Jacaranda grandifoliolata'' A.H.Gentry
* '' Jacaranda heterophylla'' M.M.Silva-Castro
* '' Jacaranda intricata'' A.Gentry & Morawetz
* ''Jacaranda irwinii'' A.Gentry
* ''Jacaranda jasminoides'' (Thunb.) Sandw.
* '' Jacaranda macrantha'' Cham.
* '' Jacaranda macrocarpa'' Bur. & K.Schum.
* '' Jacaranda micrantha'' Cham.
* '' Jacaranda montana'' Morawetz
* '' Jacaranda morii'' A.Gentry
* '' Jacaranda mutabilis'' Hassl.
* '' Jacaranda obovata'' Cham.
* '' Jacaranda oxyphylla'' Cham.
* '' Jacaranda paucifoliata'' Mart. ex DC.
* ''Jacaranda puberula'' Cham.
* ''Jacaranda racemosa'' Cham.
* ''Jacaranda rufa

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