Jacaranda caerulea (Cancer Tree)

Native to the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola, this tree can reach about 46 feet tall and has opposite, twice-divided compound leaves. Numerous small, oblong leaflets give the foliage a fern-like appearance. Open flower panicles bear purple to blue-purple tubular blossoms with flared mouths, two upper lobes, and three lower lobes. A conspicuously hairy sterile stamen occurs within the flower. Flat brown capsules split when mature to release winged seeds. It grows in dry evergreen and semi-deciduous forests and scrub, often on limestone, and is cultivated as an ornamental and shade tree. Photographed in Florida.