Every September the streets of Gauteng and Pretoria turn purple as Jacaranda trees bloom and line suburbs and streets with their lilac hue.
With 16% of Gauteng said to be lined with the trees and Johannesburg alone reporting to have 10 million Jacaranda trees, what does it mean to have them blooming earlier than expected?
According to climate experts, Jacaranda trees in the 1920s and 1930s first bloomed mid-November and gradually over the decades the trees started blooming earlier, moving to October and then September.
The #jacaranda trees flower increasingly early in Gauteng in South Africa. In the 1930s, the #trees used to bloom in mid-November, now they bloom early in September. A study found that it is due to the #warming climate.
Read: https://t.co/NpNZuGmzAm via @TC_Africa @JenFitchett
— SEI Climate (@SEIclimate) July 6, 2021
Reports of the trees blooming this Winter have raised concern due to the blooms being prone to frost damage and the change of season affecting their dormant stage.
Jacaranda trees blooming have become an annual South African phenomenon that gets reported on in the news and on social media with stunning pictures and videos featuring across various platforms.
South Africa’s Majestic Jacaranda Treespic.twitter.com/jUewjk738Z
— Travel Nature (@othingstodo) July 7, 2021
Also read: From ConCourt to Estcourt, Jacob Zuma hands himself over to police



