tyre palm

 USVI native plant

Coccothrinax alta

a guest blog by Briyanna Owens

Coccothrinax alta is a native plant of both the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. It is commonly known as teyer plam, broom palm or silver palm and has other common names as well. Typically it grows in moist to dry forests at lower elevations and on rocky soils from the sea level up to about 400 meters of altitude. Due to this and its tolerant resistance to saltiness, it can also withstand the salty winds and is planted in gardens close to the sea. It is a species with relatively fast growth that quickly distinguishes it from other species. Trees are usually 2-6 meters tall, but some can reach up to 15 meters. Its palmate leaves grow between 60-90 centimeters long and 70-110 centimeters broad. The leaves have a silky, silvery white coating beneath them. The tree is extremely resistant to high winds and can come through hurricanes almost unscathed.

Traditionally in the Virgin Islands, its leaves have been used for woodworking and crafts activities such as making roof thatch, bags, ropes, baskets, brooms, hats, and other common handicrafts. Historically, webbing from the leaf sheath was used to strain cassava. Another major component that contributes to the uses of the Coccothrinax alta are its fruits. When its fruits are visible and ripe, they appear a dark purplish-black color and have been highly valued and traditionally used as a fabric dye. 

Teyer palm fruit, UVI St. Thomas campus, Feb 2021, (c) Alice Stanford

Works Cited 

• Coccothrinax alta. Monaco Nature Encyclopedia, 10 Feb. 2018, https://www.monaconatureencyclopedia.com/coccothrinax-alta/?lang=en
• Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine - University of the Virgin Islands. Native moist forests plants. Google Sites  https://sites.google.com/a/myuvi.net/ccam/vi-plants-at-a-glance/useful-plants-in-vi-habitats/native-moist-forests-plants. 

pink cedar

USVI Native Plant

Tabebuia heterophylla

Tabebuia heterophylla, also known as pink cedar, pink trumpet, white cedar (and a variety of other common names) is a native tree to the Caribbean Islands. It is particularly common in dry, coastal woodlands and moist forests and grows up to 18 meters tall. Its species is known to grow very fast and has bell-shaped flowers that bloom throughout the spring and summer. It is commonly harvested for local use and exported for a variety of uses. It is well suited for ornamental purposes such as shading parking lots, sidewalks along the street, and gardens. Its wood is widely used as building material for furniture, flooring, cabinetwork, and boat building. It has also been used for a variety of medicinal purposes.

The leaves of Tabebuia heterophylla are oppositely arranged and palmately compound. It has pinnate leaf venation with leaves that are made up of 5 or fewer leaflets. Its trumpet-shaped flowers range from bright pink to a white/cream color with yellow throats.

Works Cited 

• Fern, Ken. Tabebuia heterophylla. Useful Tropical Plants, 13 June 2019, tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Tabebuia+heterophylla 
• Pasiecznik, Nick. Tabebuia heterophylla (pink trumpet tree). Invasive Species Compendium, Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International, 28 Feb. 2008, www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/52567
• Richardson, Sean. VI medicinal plants at a glance. University of the Virgin Islands Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, sites.google.com/a/myuvi.net/ccam/vi-plants-at-a-glance/vi-medicinal-plants-at-a-glance
• Watson, Dennis G., and Edward F. Gilman. Tabebuia heterophylla: pink trumpet tree. EDIS New Publications RSS, Environmental Horticulture, 29 Mar. 2019, edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st616

lignum vitae

 

Virgin Islands Native Plant

Guest Blog by Carissa Moses

Guaiacum officinale

Guaiacum officinale on the University of the Virgin Islands' St. Thomas campus (12 Apr 2021).

Guaiacum officinale, also commonly known as lignum vitae, is a small, slow-growing evergreen tree that can reach up to 30 feet high. Its common name means in Latin “wood of life.” The wood of G. officinale has been used for medicinal purposes as well as building ship propeller drives and carving other items. 

Guaiacum officinale is a dicot plant species that has 5 petals, which its colors ranges in shades from blue to purple and can sometimes appear to be white. Each flower has about 10 stamens, which have white filaments and either white or yellow anthers. The leaves are pinnately compound, thick, rounded, and waxy. Its fruits have an olive green color and are flattened and heart-shaped and appears to be brown and rounded when matured. Each fruit has two chambers that contains either one or two fleshy, red or black seeds that is dehiscent once ripe. The seeds are also drought tolerant. 

References 

• http://geographicconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/lignum-vitae-final1.pdf
• https://stthomassource.com/content/2020/05/30/encouraging-signs-of-life-returning/
• https://stjohnhistoricalsociety.org/vol-ix-no-7-march-2008-lignum-vitae-beauty-strength-and-the-fallibility-of-medicine-by-eleanor-gibney/
• https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=GUOF

marron bacora

Guest blog entry by Carissa Moses

USVI Native Plant

Solanum conocarpum

Solanum conocarpum on the University of the Virgin Islands-St. Thomas Campus, St. Thomas, USVI, 9 Apr 2021

Solanum conocarpum, commonly known as marron bacora, is a Virgin Islands native, flowering shrub plant once found throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands. The plant is found in the dry, evergreen scrub formation of the Virgin Islands, which is the tropical dry deciduous forest. Solanum conocarpum has been recently classified as an endangered species. Approximately 92.5% of the species’ 200 individual are on private residential property, and measures have been taken to protect the plant.

Solanum conocarpum falls in the class of Magnoliopsida, a type of dicot plant. The flowers of S. conocarpum have 5 light violet petals that are green at the centermost of the flower and arranged in a cyme inflorescence with yellow stamens. Its fruit is a teardrop-shaped berry that is dark green with lighter green perpendicular stripes, which will turn to a golden yellow color when matured.

Solanum conocarpum on the University of the Virgin Islands-St. Thomas Campus, St. Thomas, USVI, 9 Apr 2021

 

References

https://www.eaglehill.us/programs/journals/neon/images/cana-36.pdf

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/plants/Virgin_Islands_plants/natural_history_solanum.html

https://stthomassource.com/content/2021/02/25/can-a-victim-of-development-morph-into-ecological-survivor/