| Positive | Monocromatico | On Sep 17, 2003, Monocromatico from Rio de Janeiro
Brazil (Zone 11) wrote:This is one of the most strange plants I found on my last trip to brazilian savannas. This is a weird species of Jacaranda (the same genus of the Jacaranda tree, that with purple bell flowers, but another species) that doesn´t grow much. Maybe 30-50cm tall, at most.
The compound leaves are distributed on short branches that come up from the soil, forming a circle. When winter comes, these branches dry, and the leaves turn into litter, but stay there. In mid winter, when the plant looks dead, it shoots out inflorescences with bell shaped, bluish violet flowers that are spetacular! After the bloom, new branches are formed, and the plant comes back for the next year.
This is an interesting plant because of how it grows undergrounds. Despide the short size outside, underground it has so deep, strong and complex stem and root systems that it looks like a tree upside down! Through rhyzomes, it can spread for several meters, shouting new branches (always grouped in round groups like that one I described) everywhere.
It likes full sun, regular watering (let it dry during the winter, watering it sporadically), very deep, red clay soil and lots of room. It will tolerate some frost, but not for long periods. Frost free places with moderate heat are recomended. |
