jacaranda Bignoniaceae Jacaranda mimosifolia D. Don symbol: JAMI Leaf: Alternate, bipinnately compound, 8 to 15 inches long, 13 to 25 pairs of major leaflets, each with a similar number of minor leaflets, green above and paler below. Flower: Beautiful, lavender blue, tubular, 1 inch long, appearing in dense 6 to 10 inch terminal clusters in spring; spectacular display in spring and early summer with often the entire tree and later the ground turning blue as the flowers fall off. Fruit: Round, flat, reddish brown, woody capsule, 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter containing numerous small winged seeds. Twig: Slender, slightly zigzag, light reddish brown. Bark: Thin, gray-brown, smooth for sometime but becoming finely scaly when old. Form: A small tree reaching up to 25 to 40 feet tall with a spreading, arching vase shaped crown. In urban use it is important to prune into one dominant trunk. Looks like: flamboyant tree Additional Range Information: Jacaranda mimosifolia is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and may seed into the landscape. See states reporting jacaranda. External Links: USDA Plants Database Horticulture © Copyright 2016, Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, all rights reserved. Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson