Dubbed Jacaranda City, Pretoria is renowned for these beautiful trees, which are beloved by locals and celebrated as a symbol of the city. Jacaranda trees, which hail from Brazil, have been around for more than a century in South Africa, and tourists travel from around the world to delight in their brightly coloured flowers.

The first jacaranda trees were imported to the Cape in the early 1800s. They were also brought into the country through Durban – in fact, the oldest living jacaranda trees in South Africa are in Durban. The second-oldest trees, two of which are in Sunnyside in Pretoria, were planted in the 1880s. When the Union Buildings were being built, a concerted effort was made to plant more jacarandas, to the extent that the Pretoria Council gave community members free trees when they removed existing trees to install sewerage systems.

UP is home to more than 200 jacaranda tree specimens.

“As part of the Bus Rapid System (BRT) development, many trees were transplanted from along the Lynnwood Road boundary of the University to various areas around Pretoria, and seem to have taken well,” says Jason Sampson, head of the botanical gardens at UP. “The University has planted jacaranda trees within its boundary along the inside of the fence around the Administrative Building to replace some of the trees that were removed.”

Widely known for their striking purple tone, jacarandas also feature a white mutation.

“We have a couple of white jacaranda avenues in Pretoria near Jan Cilliers Park and Wonderboom, on the way to Onderstepoort,” says Sampson. “There are more jacarandas in Johannesburg than in Pretoria.”

Jacarandas flower all at once, Sampson adds.

“There are 65 000 adult specimens in the city. They flower without leaves.” 

The most pressing issue facing jacaranda trees is urbanisation. Paving the area around the trees prevents natural rainwater from reaching the roots, putting the tree under stress. Age-related ailments and over-pruning the trees to make way for buses to pass freely also affect them, as this may allow diseases to penetrate the trees.

In South Africa, there aren’t any overarching pests or diseases that affect jacarandas. While these trees are considered an invasive species, they are one of the few that have an exclusion clause in legislation, which allows for more jacarandas to be planted only in urban areas. This does impact the management of these areas, because the cities are effectively seed reservoirs for invasive species.

“One of the reasons jacaranda trees are invasive is that they have a lot fewer pests than indigenous trees,” Sampson says. “When they were brought over from Brazil, nothing was really attacking them. They are a tough species and well adapted to South African conditions.”

However, climate change has affected them – the trees flower in October, more than a month earlier than they did 50 years ago. Records show that in Johannesburg, jacarandas flowered in November more than 50 or 60 years ago.

“Tourism in the City of Tshwane is heavily influenced by two factors: the jacaranda bloom and the national holiday season,” says Hannes Engelbrecht, a lecturer in heritage and tourism in the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies at the University of Pretoria (UP). “The former is often highlighted as the best time to visit the city, as from late September through October, sometimes extending into early November, the city’s tens of thousands of jacaranda trees burst into a brilliant purple bloom. This event is a massive draw for both domestic and international tourists, and is one of the city’s most iconic leisure and sightseeing experiences. Aside from their aesthetic appeal, jacarandas have become synonymous with the image and brand identity of the City of Tshwane as a botanical and horticultural hotspot.”

The benefits of jacarandas:

• People travel from around the world to see them in flower, helping to boost tourism for Gauteng.
• They foster a sense of community and a sense of place.
• They have been part of the history of Pretoria for more than 100 years.
• They don’t need fertiliser and can survive on what nature provides.
• They provide shade – studies have shown that urban shade trees can drop the surface temperature of paving by up to 25°C. This is called an ecosystem service.

What sets jacarandas apart:

• They are seasonal, shedding their leaves in winter and sprouting in spring.
• They produce clusters of fragrant, funnel-shaped purple flowers, creating a stunning spectacle.
• They are planted in warm weather regions, enhancing landscapes.