Heralding the spring season, the Jacaranda trees are in full bloom on the Munnar-Marayur stretch of the Kochi-Dhanushkodi national highway. Trees enveloped in blue dot both sides of the road.
Believed to be planted by the British as an ornamental tree, Jacaranda Mimosifolia is one of the 49 species of flowering plants in the family of Bignoniaceae, native to Central and South America, Cuba, Jamaica, and Bahamas.
The Munnar landscape now sports the greenish cover of tea plantations, blue jacaranda flowers, and the azure blue of the sky, all in harmony. Jacaranda grows in the tropical and sub-tropical regions. It is believed that the Jacaranda and Spathodea trees were planted atop the hills near the estate bungalows around the same time. Spathodea trees were planted to control mosquitoes when malaria posed a serious threat to labourers. The Jacaranda gives blue blooms after the crimson splendour of Spathodea ends.
“Though both the trees are alien they are in harmony with the Munnar landscape. The four seasons can easily be traced in Munnar as the landscape changes colour accordingly,” says Chandrasekhar, a reporter of a local newspaper. If Spathodea proclaims the arrival of winter, Jacaranda indicates spring. Jacaranda has its origin in Gurani, a dialect in South America, where it was a common tree. The flowered tree was widely described in the early writings and folk stories of South America. Local people call it Neela Vaaka.
