Susanne Lipps - Madeira

Blue Jacaranda,

Brazilian Rosewood

Jacaranda mimosifolia

Bloom time

From April to May.

Characteristics

The gnarled growing tree grows up to 20 m (22 yd.) tall. In winter it sheds off its leaves. Before they sprout again in spring the bleak tree develops the popular blue-violet panicles of flowers. They consist of many single blossoms. As those of many fern species, the tender leaves are bipinnate.

Site:

In the south of Madeira the Blue Jacaranda is growing in gardens and parks up to an altitude of 300 m (330 yd.). In Funchal, Jacaranda is lining whole streets. There you may discover an especially conspicuous effect of the flowers at the end of April when they produce strongly violet shining avenues, e.g. in Avenida Arriaga, in Avenida do Infante or in Rua João de Deus.

Interesting to know:

The tree origins from the savannahs of South Brazil. The Portuguese explorers adapted the Indian name: the “j” at the beginning is pro-nounced like in journal, the emphasis is on the last syllable. Today Jacaranda is cultivated in many countries because of its spectacu-lar flowers. It is said that in Pretoria (South Africa) there are cultivated 6000 specimens.

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In the Gardens

Pride of Bolivia, Tipu Tree

Tipuana tipu

Bloom time

From June to September; dur-ing this time there are con-stantly emerging new blos-soms.

Characteristics

The imposing tree has dense foliage and a broad crown. It grows up to 10 m (11 yd.) tall. The long leaves are pinnate; the single com-pounds are longish and ovate. The yellow blossoms emerge from short panicles.

Site:

Although you may find the Pride of Bolivia on Madeira in regions up to an altitude of 600 m (655 yd.), it mainly grows in coastal areas. Especially in Funchal the tree is lin-ing many roads, e.g. the Avenida Zarco or the Rua Arcipreste behind the market hall.

Interesting to know:

The tree is native to South America (Brazil, Ar-gentina, Bolivia) where it can grow up to 35 m (38 yd.) tall. Its botanical denomination refers to the Valle Tipuana, a Bolivian valley in which the Tipu Tree develops larger populations. It belongs to the family of Fabaceae; thus it is not related to Jacaranda (Bignonia family, cf. p. 22). Anyway it is also called Yellow Jacaranda because of its pinnate leaves and blossom pan-icles. Pride of Bolivia is a fast growing, unde-manding and flexible tree, characteristics that make it popular as a street tree. Today it is even cultivated in mild regions of the Mediterranean.

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In the Gardens

Flame Tree

Brachychiton acerifolius

Bloom time

From April to September.

Characteristics

The Flame Tree grows up to 10 m (11 yd.) tall. The leaves consist of three to five lobes and are shed off in winter. In spring the plant develops the main blossoms before new leaves sprout. The scarlet blossoms are little and bell-shaped; they grow in long, hanging racemes.

Site:

At Madeira’s southern coast you will often find the Flame tree being cultivated as an ornamen-tal plant up to an altitude of 200 m (220 yd.). You may frequently see the plant in Funchal where it is both lining roads and growing in gardens and parks. An eye-catching specimen shades the inner courtyard of Funchal’s market hall.

Interesting to know:

The tree is native to Australia where it grows in the rainforest at the eastern coast. In South Africa you might see it frequently as a park tree. Its frost tolerance allows cultivating it even in the Mediterranean regions. The wood is extremely light and soft; thus you could hammer against the trunks of older speci-mens and will notice that they sound empty. The wood is sometimes employed to produce life belts; moreover it can serve as a substi-tute for balsa wood in model construction.

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In the Gardens

Tropical Hydrangea Tree,

Pink Ball Dombeya

Dombeya wallichii

Bloom time

From November to February.

Characteristics

The tree grows spherical-ly and reaches up to 8 m (9 yd.) tall. It has dense foliage. The heart-shaped leaves are tapered, have a point-ed extreme and are tender-ly hairy on the underside. The hemispherical, hanging flowers remind of Hydran-geas. The single blossoms are pink with yellow stamens.

Site:

You will find the Hydrangea Tree in parks in the south, mainly in the region of Funchal and up to an altitude of 300 m (330 yd.). Specimen trees are growing in the Botani-cal Garden ( 190), in the Quinta das Cruzes ( 199) and in the Quinta Palmeira ( 195).

Interesting to know:

The tree is native to Madagascar. Today it is cul-tivated as an ornamental plant in all tropical countries. Despite of its name and the blossoms it is not related to Hydrangeas but belongs to the Mallow family (Malvaceae). The genus Dombeya got its name from J. Dombey (1742-1795), popu-lar as a traveller for America, and contains about 300 species that are exclusively native to Africa, mainly to Madagascar. Their blossoms are not too attractive yet. Anyway some Dombeya spe-cies from South Africa are cultivated in the Med-iterranean region because they tolerate light frosts (in contrast to the Tropical Hydrangea Tree).

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In the Gardens