Jacaranda offers great beauty and good wood carvings
A jacaranda tree. The tree has various uses, which include medicine, fuel and timber. In traditional medicine, its flowers, leaves and bark are used to ease severe pain caused by damaged or malfunctioning nerves while jacaranda leaf baths are said to treat wounds, skin infections and acne. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
According to Kenya Forestry Research Institute (Kefri) Guide to Tree Planting in Kenya, it grows in ecological zones of between 1,600 and 2,500 metres above sea level and annual rainfalls of 800-1,400mm.
The tree also has qualities that treat leukaemia and hepatitis. Dried leaves are used to make ointment for treating chest congestions while the bark is used in lotions for managing ulcers.
According to the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the sector employs more than 60,000 people, who support a further 300,000.
With the exception of Jacaranda, all the other trees are being cut into extinction. Indeed, mpingo, muhugu and muuku are already extinct in Wamunyu.
Jacaranda mimosifolia is native to South America but grows widely in other parts of the world. It is famous for its blue trumpet-shaped flowers that adorn its many branches in breathtaking beauty in full bloom.
It is this beauty that attracted me to the jacaranda. It was the very first tree I planted in Kapchai in April 1980 when I was in Class Six. Of the four I planted, two survived and they are 40 years old this year.
