Every May, newcomers to LA inevitably ask, “What the hell are those purple trees?”
They’re called jacarandas, and it’s okay to pronounce the j. You can also find them in places with similar climates, including Australia and South Africa.
(Photo by autumn leaf)
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June 1st, 2009 at 12:00 pm
They’re everywhere back home in Australia. I’m not sure of the origins, but the name sounds Australian.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:12 pm
COOL. :) I love this time of year in L.A. Purple’s my favorite color.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:13 pm
My boyfriend and I met online – I’m from way northern california, near Mt. Shasta, and he was a little south of LA. On my second trip to see him in late May of last year, I couldn’t get enough of those trees. They were gorgeous. I was almost halfway glad my bus driver was stupid and kept getting lost on his way to the bus station in LA, just so I could stare at them longer.
June 1st, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I have one sitting right across from my apartment balcony. It’s like a little bit of beauty in the middle of all the traffic and concrete surrounding Beverly blvd.
June 1st, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I think they’re from South America originally, and South Africa indeed has many. I used to live in Pretoria, the “Jacaranda City”, where the purple carpet on the sidewalks and roads usually heralds the impending doom of EXAM TIME for all students (in October, though, not May). Ah, memories…
According to campus legend, if you walk under a Jacaranda and a flower drops on your head on the way to the exam, you will pass with honours … on the other hand, if it should drop on your shoulder, you will fail. It never seemed to work that way for me, though :)
June 1st, 2009 at 1:03 pm
they’re so beautiful, but I didn’t even seen any of those trees when I was in L.A last year…
June 1st, 2009 at 2:41 pm
One hails their beauty, while they hail your presence.
June 1st, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Hey, thanks for the info! I’ve been wondering what to call them (I’m one of the newcomers).
@Leoni: It took me a moment to figure out why they’d bloom in October in South Africa. Then I felt a little dumb.
June 1st, 2009 at 6:21 pm
They remind me of the lilac trees that we have, in Canada. Do they smell as sickly sweet?
https://www.veseys.com/ca/en/images/gallery/large/6825.jpg
June 1st, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Nice pic!
They have them in Hawaii, too. I’m not much of a tree person, but the jacaranda is easily my favorite tree.
June 1st, 2009 at 7:17 pm
They are gorgeous (and how about more roundabouts in LA, while we’re at it!)
Not to be crass, but I’ve wondered for years, especially during my time at USC as they were along Hoover, the name of that tree that flowers in the spring and has that very distinct smell…like, um…well, for lack of a better word, semen. It’s a white flower on a large tree. Anyone know?
June 1st, 2009 at 7:23 pm
My car is covered in purple petals as we speak.
June 1st, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Ah, I loved the jacarandas when I was growing up in LA. The blossoms fall from them like a lilac snow, and they do smell sweet.
I loved them, until I lived in LA again as an adult – and had to park under them. Messy, messy. Not only did they drop a billion blooms, but spurted sticky juice all over my vehicle. Yeech.
So, I will have them in my landscape when I have my dream home in LA – but only at the back of the property.
June 1st, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Jacarandas are one of the things I miss about my hometown in Mexico. This picture looks so much like the neighbourhood where my mom still lives.
If you ever go to Guadalajara for the film festival or the book fair (hey, LA is the guest of honour next December), let me know. :-) We’ll make sure you don’t get too homesick.
Thanks for sharing this photo. I’ll keep coming back to look at it.
June 1st, 2009 at 10:20 pm
I was born in L.A., lived there until I was 31, and never knew the name of those trees.
June 1st, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Such luxuriant beauty! My heart fills with joy to live in L.A. every year when jacaranda season rolls around. Thanks, John!
June 1st, 2009 at 10:45 pm
I live in Brisbane and there are Jacarandas everywhere in late Spring. In Grafton, New South Wales they have the Jacaranda Festival and teenage girls vy for the title of “Jacaranda Queen.”
Looking at this photo it could so easily be a street in Brisbane – one of those weird relocating-dislocating moments. Jacaranda trees and their distinctive perfume features prominently in the sci-fi manuscript I wrote for the National Novel Writing Competition last year.
June 2nd, 2009 at 1:22 am
You want Jacarandas…we got Jacarandas.
http://www.jacarandafestival.org.au/
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:40 am
There everywhere in Grafton (Northern NSW) – but also right around Australia. There’s one in my street in Sydney.
Great trees for kids to climb!!!
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:23 am
Also seen in the intro for the Simpsons.
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:12 am
Does anyone have a good place to buy a jacaranda sapling in L.A.
Thanks
July 1st, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Thank you for posting this… I’m a USC alumni and always wanted to know what trees they were… they’re beautiful.
July 8th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Hey, i am a new poster, but loooove your site, its really helpful. I am a newbee screenwriter from far far away from LA, different country even. These tress are amazing :)