Jacaranda

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Jacaranda tree Jacaranda mimosifolia

Description

Wood from any of several catalpa trees of the genus Jacaranda native to the West Indies, tropical Americas, Florida, and California. One popular jacaranda wood is called caroba from the Brazilian tree, J. copia. Jacaranda is a fragrant ornamental wood has been used for carvings, small decorative items, pianos, knife handles, cabinets, and expensive furniture. The name jacaranda has also been commonly used for other unrelated decorative type woods such as Brazilian rosewood and blue ebony.

See also Catalpa.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Jacaranda mimosifolia; Jacaranda cuspidifolia; Jacaranda copia; jacaranda (Fr., Port.); catalpa; caroba; Brazilian rosewood; blue ebony

Physical and Chemical Properties

  • Small tree = 8-13 m
  • Bark = thin, smooth, gray-brown
  • Flowers = Clusters of lavender blue cylinders (3 cm long) in late spring

Resources and Citations

  • Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)
  • Virginia Tech Dendrology website at www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/main.htm (accessed Oct. 3, 2005)
  • Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976
  • Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
  • The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998