When examined historically, current criticisms of Australian trees are a complicated mix of white nationalism, African nationalism, and environmentalism. I show how present-day debates have been ongoing for the past century.
Australian south african small purple tree series#
My dissertation and a series of forthcoming articles analyze the history of Australian trees in South Africa. Together with global climate change this issue will supposedly become dire, as climatic models predict that water will become scarcer and rising temperatures will threaten native plants. Environmental groups and government agencies predict a growing crisis for much of South Africa where “invasive” Australian trees continue to propagate to the detriment of local plants and communities.
These trees can be found growing in plantations and as naturalized exotics in almost every region of South Africa. Many South Africans believe that species of Acacia, Eucalyptus, and Hakea from Australia constitute one of the greatest threats to the existence of many of the country’s unique native plants and use precious water needed for rural communities, healthy rivers, and sustainable economic growth. Whereas in Australia gangly gum trees from the genus Eucalyptus and yellow-flowered wattles from the genus Acacia are celebrated national emblems, in South Africa they are widely despised. But somehow things always happen the way they’re supposed to.This article was originally published on May 1, 2011. This post, like our Saxonwold jacaranda stroll, didn’t turn out as planned. I had forgotten all about this, but that was the last walk that Jon and I ever took together. They’re better than I remember, and some of them are quite special. I hunted down last year’s jacaranda pictures on my hard drive. I had intended to write a post about them back then, but life intervened and I never got around to it. Even without the jacarandas.Īs I was writing this post, I suddenly remembered that I took a bunch of jacaranda photos in Melville last summer. And look: There is one blooming jacaranda tree on the far right.Īll in all, a perfect afternoon and evening. We arrived just in time to see flocks of ibis swooping in to roost for the night. It was a great idea though.Īfter our walk we headed to the Zoo Lake Bowling Club for a drink. I can’t remember who decided to hail the ice cream scooter. I happened to be messing around with Instagram when Jackie decided to photograph Manuela in her panama hat, and Gianmarco started a spontaneous five-minute meditation. We all forgot about the jacarandas and just enjoyed the moment. Our failed jacaranda mission gave me the perfect opportunity to examine the monument from all sides.īest of all, I was with a fun, quirky group of people. I’ve driven past this monument dozens of times but never stopped to photograph it before. The Anglo-Boer War Memorial, on the grounds of the Museum of Military History in Saxonwold. And fortunately Jackie planned the walk around the Anglo-Boer War Memorial, one of Joburg’s most beautiful monuments. We didn’t have jacarandas, but we did have a lovely, warm evening and great light. We seemed to have missed the peak in Saxonwold.Īll was not lost though. It’s been a weird jacaranda season in Joburg this year the blooms came late, and in some places they hardly came at all. I showed up ready to shoot purple, but there was very little purple to shoot. My friend Jackie scheduled a late afternoon jacaranda photo stroll through Saxonwold, Joburg’s leafiest and most jacaranda-filled suburb. Jacarandas are an invasive species in South Africa and the public is banned from planting new ones.Ī couple of weekends ago, I thought the time had finally come for my jacaranda post. We need to appreciate jacaranda season while we have it. This is my third summer in Joburg and I’ve yet to write a post about jacarandas. The jacarandas bloom around October or November, and the Jozi suburbs become shrouded in purple for a couple of weeks.
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