Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae)
A member of the banana family, the bird of paradise is a popular ornamental plant. It is native to South Africa. Like many of the ornamental plants in the Virgin Islands, it was brought here for landscaping. Now many such plants can be found growing in the wild as well as in gardens.
The bird of paradise gets its name from the unique flower that can resemble a brightly colored bird in flight. It is a large plant that can grow to several feet in height. It is frequently visited by birds such as hummingbirds and bananaquits. Hummingbirds (like the green-throated carib in the picture) insert their long beaks into the flower to drink nectar. Bananaquits use a different strategy: they use their short, stout beaks to poke a hole near the base of the flower to get at the nectar within.
Hibiscus (Hibiscus sp.)
Hibiscus are one of the many beautiful flowering plants found in the Virgin Islands. They are popularly used for landscaping. The plant has been bred to produce flowers of various colors. The large flowers attract pollinators such as insects and birds.
Each flower has both male (stamens) and female (pistils) reproductive structures. The flowers, which normally only last a day or two, are often used to make a refreshing drink.
Frangipani (Plumeria sp.)
The frangipani is a beautiful plant that produces wonderfully fragrant flowers which last without wilting. However, care should be used when handling frangipani because the plant creates a poisonous milky sap. The sap should not be put in the mouth or rubbed around the face or eyes. One creature that makes use of the qualities of this sap is the frangipani caterpillar. The caterpillar eats the leaves of the plant, making itself toxic and unpleasant to predators.
Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea sp.)
Bougainvillea is a common plant in the Virgin Islands. It is popular for landscaping and comes in many colors. It can form sprawling mounds, extend upward into trees, or be trimmed into hedges. What gives the bougainvillea its striking colors are not the petals of flowers, but modified leaves called “bracts.” Small flowers are nestled within the bracts. In the picture, the bracts are the vibrant purple leaves surrounding the smaller white flowers.
Lobster Claw (Heliconia rostrata)
The lobster claw is a relative of the banana that is a popular ornamental plant in the Virgin Islands. The colorful inflorescence (cluster of flowers on a stem) emerges from large leafy shoots. Similar to the bougainvillea, the lobster claw has small flowers associated with large colorful bracts. In the pictured plant, the bracts (red and yellow structures) will continue to separate down the length of the inflorescence, then open to expose small flowers that will be pollinated by insects and birds.
Aloe (Aloe barbadensis)
Aloe is a widely cultivated and useful plant in the Virgin Islands. It grows in sunny areas and requires little water. The gel-like substance that oozes from broken aloe leaves are medicinally used to treat everything from burns (including sunburn) to headaches and colds.
The aloe plant looks especially dramatic when it blooms, sending up a stalk nearly three feet in height that supports many small yellow flowers. If you’ve only seen aloe as a houseplant, you may not be familiar with the flowers. In an area with a lot of aloe plants, it can be a big event when they bloom. The nectar from these flowers is very popular with the insects and birds which pollinate the aloe plants.
Night Blooming Cereus (Selenicereus undatus)
A member of the cactus family, the night blooming cereus blooms dramatically at night with large, aromatic flowers. The flowers, which can be up to one foot in diameter, last only one night and are pollinated by bats and insects. After pollination, the plant produces a red, edible fruit often called red pitaya or dragonfruit.
There are several different species of plant that share the common name night blooming cereus, but all are types of cactus with large flowers that bloom at night.
Organ Pipe Cactus (Pilosocereus royenii)
Originally from Mexico, the organ pipe cactus can be found throughout the Virgin Islands. They typically branch and send out several spine-covered stems. Birds often build nests amongst the spines for protection from predators (such as the bananaquit nest in the upper left photo). The plants produce a trumpet shaped flower, then a small fruit after pollination.
Carambola (Averrohao carambola)
The carambola tree produces a waxy-skinned fruit with five to six distinct ridges. When sliced, the fruit has a cross section in the shape of a star and is often called star fruit. The entire fruit is edible and is crisp and juicy.
Carambola tree bearing fruit
The carambola tree is native to tropical southeast Asia. Like many of the commonly seen plants in the Virgin Islands, it was introduced here for its ornamental appearance and delicious fruit.