Headed for an Exam? Go Find a Jacaranda Tree!

Purple canopy: Jacarandas on Del Mar Blvd. in Pasadena

Trees. Again. May in L.A. was cooler than usual and June is no different. Anything that flowers is doing so long and abundantly this year, including the Jacaranda trees with their purple canopies.

Jacarandas have become popular in the California Southland but they originally came from Central and South America and from the West Indies. The Wikipedia entry on Jacarandas mentions (but does not cite) a legend from Pretoria, South Africa, which is known as Jacaranda City: the time of year the tree blooms coincides with the year-end exams at the University of Pretoria. Should a flower from the Jacaranda tree drop on your head, you will pass all your exams. Nice. If your headed for a test: go find a Jacaranda!

Comments

Lorraine Seal said…

The memories you bring back, Christina!

Years ago, back when the world was young, I studied art history at UCLA. If you know the campus, maybe you know the sculpture garden that sits just before the art department offices and classrooms. I assume it's still filled with jacaranda trees. I recall the vivid color of the blossoms against, in spring, the silver morning low clouds. And how the air would turn butter-yellow as noon approached and passed, as the cloud cover lifted. Then I'd sit under the lavender trees to study.

Years later I worked in a building on Wilshire near Fairfax. It twas the same in the spring; jacaranda trees emerging from the low-hanging morning mists, then shining in the afternoon sun.

Thanks for reminding me of spring in Southern California!

Lorraine

July 1, 2011 at 3:37 AM

Christina Schweighofer said…

Lorraine,

Thank you for sharing your memories. Do UCLA students have superstitions about jacaranda trees too?

July 8, 2011 at 7:43 PM

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