Before October ends, and the last purple flowers fall from the Jacarandas covering every street in the city, I thought it is the most appropriate time to share the beauty, our purple beauty, from the bush. As some of you might have noticed, the Jacaranda tree which is an invasive species, has slowly been replaced by an endemic tree, known as the Tree Wisteria. This tree too, blooms in the month of October and also carries beautiful purple flowers that resembles a cluster of grapes.
If we give this beautiful, deciduous tree some time and effort to grow, it will simply replace the city of Pretoria and Johannesburg with its indigenous purple flowers. Which in fact, is something all cities should focus to do.
Jacaranda trees are originally from South America, Argentina to be exact, and were introduced to our country in the 1880’s. Majority of them are usually purple, but a rare few have white flowers, whom were selectively bred and are apparently sterile. These “white” Jacaranda trees only bloom in a specific street in Pretoria. Believe me, I’ve seen them.
But Jacarandas are unfortunately not very good for our current environmental state and because of their unlimited thirst, they can guzzle quite a lot of groundwater resulting in a shortage of water throughout the city and local communities.
Personally, I know the cultural value this tree holds for many South Africans living in Pretoria and Johannesburg, and strangely for that reason it is now a protected species. For the future, you can no longer plant Jacarandas as this is illegal, but it will remain a part of our social and cultural values. The cultural values actually outweigh the fact that Jacarandas are invader species and therefore, the environmental legislations has become less strict about them.
But in saying that, and being surrounded by nature and its general management styles that comes along with it, it is always needed to relook and rethink what is best for Mother Nature.
The worst thing that can happen, is that Pretoria might have to change its name from the “Jacaranda City” to “Wisteria Lane”! So do yourself a favour and see how many of the Tree Wisterias you can spot along the main roads of suburban Pretoria.
xxx Nicola