CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | Contact
Australians have once again become well aware of our love-hate relationship with the beautiful jacaranda tree.
After weeks of striking Instagram posts and warm colours springing into our suburban streets, the dark side of the floral beauty is starting to become apparent.
This comes less than a month after the nation was celebrating their love for the purple summery flowers, with the The Betoota Advocate’s article ‘Fuck Yeah: The Jacarandas Are Back On’
Queenslanders and and a few suburbs in the Southern cities, have received their stark reminder to be bloody careful, as light showers hit the Eastern seaboard.
The purple flower of the jacaranda has been a popular inclusion to Australian front lawns and parks ever since the first jacaranda was planted in 1864 in Brisbane’s botanic gardens.
Each late September, the trees, which range in size from 20 to 30 m (66 to 98 ft) tall, sprout flowers are produced in conspicuous large panicles, each flower with a five-lobed blue to purple-blue corolla; a few species have white flowers, but they are less cool.
Sadly, once these flowers hit the pavement, they can transform into a slippery dark blue sludge.
All they need is a little rain.
Tradesmen and delivery couriers around the country are currently feeling the wrath of nature’s evil slip hazard, with hospitals across the country reporting a spike in triage and even emergency cases.
Pedestrians have been urged to be watch exactly where they are stepping, and monitor their weight distribution across both feet.
Residents of streets that are yet to experience light showers should be calling on help from neighbours or family who might be able to lend them a leaf blower. Those who have already endured this November downfall should know that it is too late. The sludge will be there until the next heatwave.
