''Jacaranda caerulea'' (boxwood or cancertree) is a flowering tree belonging to the genus ''
Jacaranda
''Jacaranda'' is a genus of 49 species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. The generic name is also used as the common name.
The species ''Jacaranda mimosifolia'' has achie ...
''. It is native to the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
, in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
,
Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
(the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
and
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
) and the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
.
[
]
Description
''Jacaranda caerula'' was described in 1805 by French naturalist Jean Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire
Jean Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire (October 29, 1772 – 1845) was a French naturalist and artist, born in Grasse, France.
Biography
Born as ''Jaume'', he added ''Saint-Hilaire'' later. Some biographers indicate that this addition was to disting ...
. It grows up to in height and has 40 cm long, bipinnate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...
leaves each with 8 to 26 pinna.[ It flowers intermittently throughout spring and summer, rather than having one big bloom during spring.][
]
Distribution
The tree is native to the Bahamas, Hispaniola, and Cuba, but can also be found in Florida where it was introduced for landscaping purposes.[
]
Uses
The leaves are used in some places for their antiseptic properties. In the Bahamas, decoction
Decoction is a method of extraction by boiling herbal or plant material (which may include stems, roots, bark and rhizomes) to dissolve the chemicals of the material. It is the most common preparation method in various herbal-medicine systems. De ...
s are made from the dried leaves and used as an alternative treatment for a variety of skin complaints, including skin cancer. In Cuba, decoctions of leafy branches are used to treat eczema and acne.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15550475
caerulea
''Caerulea'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. It is a small genus with only two
species.
*'' Caerulea coeligena'' (Oberthür, 1876) western China, central China.
*'' Caerulea coelestis'' (Alphéraky, 1897) Tibet, western Chin ...
Trees of Cuba
Trees of the Bahamas
Trees of the Dominican Republic
Trees of Haiti
Medicinal plants of North America