Jacaranda mimosifolia D.Don
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Authority
Gentry, Alwyn H. 1992. Bignoniaceae--part II (Tribe Tecomeae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 25: 1-370. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Bignoniaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. Described from cultivation in England, Type illustration, Bot. Reg. 8, Tab. 631.
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Synonyms
Jacaranda ovalifolia R.Br., Jacaranda chelonia Griseb.
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Description
Species Description - Tree to at least 15 m tall and 45 cm dbh., the bark gray, the branchlets terete. Leaves bipinnate, 15-30 cm long, with 13-31 pinnae, these 1.3-2.1 cm apart on the rachis, each pinna 5-10 cm long with subwinged rachis and 13-41 sessile leaflets, these 3-12 mm long and 1-4 mm wide, narrowly elliptic, sharply acuminate, the base cuneate, chartaceous, glabrous or slightly puberulous along midrib and margin, the margin slightly revolute. Inflorescence an open terminal panicle, the branches shortly puberulous. Flowers with the calyx reduced, broadly campanulate, 5-denticulate, 1 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, subpuberulous at least along margin; corolla purplish-blue with the tube white inside, tubular-campanulate above a slightly narrowed neck which is conspicuously curved and slightly enlarged toward base, 3-4 cm long, 0.7-1.2 cm wide at mouth of tube, the tube 2.4-5.2 cm long, the lobes 0.3-0.8 cm long, pubescent outside, especially toward the base, pubescent inside at the level of stamen insertion and sparsely so with long trichomes in the tube; stamens didynamous, monothecate, the second theca reduced to a minute appendage, each theca 2 mm long, the filaments pubescent below middle, the staminode 2-2.5 cm long, glandular-pubescent at middle and apex; pistil 2.2-2.5 cm long, the ovary flattened-cylindrical, 2-3.5 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, glabrous, the ovules 6-8-seriate in each locule; disk short, pulvinate. Fruit a compressed-orbicular capsule, often shallowly emarginate at the tip and truncate to broadly but shallowly subcordate basally, 3.2-6 cm long, 3.7-6 cm wide, drying brownish or tannish, the margins not or very slightly undulate; seeds thin, 0.9-1.2 cm long, 1.1-1.7 cm wide, the wing more or less surrounding and clearly demarcated from seed body, hyaline-membranaceous with brownish streaks.
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Discussion
This widely cultivated species is closely related to J. acutifolia and has sometimes been interpreted as no more than a form of that taxon, which is here treated as endemic to the Peruvian inter-Andean valleys. We have followed Sandwith (1954) in maintaining these two as distinct, with J. mimosifolia differentiated by its larger fruits, shorter calyx, and greater number of pinnae per leaf. This species is occasionally cultivated within the natural distribution of J. acutifolia and the cultivated trees look quite different from wild J. acutifolia, differing in larger size, more numerous leaflets and pinnae, and especially a much less intense flower color.
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Common Names
tarco, jacaranda
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Distribution
Native to northwestern Argentina and adjacent Bolivia; widely cultivated throughout the tropics and subtropics of the world; 500-2800 m elevation.
Bolivia South America| Cochabamba Bolivia South America| Tarija Bolivia South America| Argentina South America| Jujuy Argentina South America| Salta Argentina South America| Tucuman Argentina South America|