Calle Jacaranda

The name comes from a tree, the jacaranda, which in spring covers the sidewalks of half the world with violet flowers. The word entered Spanish from Guaraní, the language spoken across much of Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. The jacaranda is native to South America and from there traveled as an ornamental tree to temperate climates, where it is planted for the spectacle of its bloom. Calle Jacaranda sits on the southern edge of Arganzuela, near Atocha, in a recently developed area where several streets take the names of trees and plants, a common habit of the street registry when it opens new roads and there is no figure or event to commemorate. The tree flowers before it puts out leaves, so for a few weeks the whole crown turns into a purple cloud; when the petals fall, they carpet the ground the same color.