Jacaranda, the incredible blue

Adult specimens reach between 15 and 18 m. Tall. Its trunk is generally inclined, the foliage is feathery and semi-persistent.

Due to the climatic conditions that the city offers in winter, different from those of its natural habitat, in Buenos Aires it loses its leaves during spring, just before flowering. It has two great moments of flowering, one with the tree without leaves in November and the other of lesser magnitude in February/March in the Pampas latitude, of an indefinable color between lilac and light blue. The flat, dry and rounded fruits remain on the plant for a long time. Hummingbirds and birds feed on the nectar of its flowers, and it is also a host plant for butterflies. It appears on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a "vulnerable species" due to the advance of agriculture in its original habitat. The poet Maria Elena Walsh dedicated a poem to him that is a classic of the children's songbook.

In 2014, the Buenos Aires Legislature designated Jacaranda mimosifolia as "the distinctive tree" of the City of Buenos Aires, for the fantastic spectacle of its flowering during the month of November. Thanks to Jules Charles Thays, it was incorporated into the Buenos Aires landscape towards the end of the 19th century, in the tree-lined streets and squares, forming part of the alignments on avenues and streets. Currently, the City has approximately 12,000 specimens in its streets and squares, thus constituting the tree species of the Argentine flora with the greatest presence in the City.

It has a medicinal use, particularly in its original habitats (Lucayas Islands, north of the Antilles) for obstetric and gynaecological procedures as well as skin diseases, including cancer.