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Everything Else Bonaire: Tree ID
Bonaire Talk: Everything Else Bonaire: Archives: Archives 1999 - 2004: Archives - 2004-09-01 to 2004-12-31: Tree ID
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lee Cuevas (BonaireTalker - Post #63) on Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 7:27 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We saw this tree while walking into town and cannot tell what it is. It looks like some kind of Bananna but odd shaped. Can anyone tell me what this is?
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Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fiona Rattray (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #280) on Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 7:57 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Lee:
Well, I can't resist a plant I.D.
It's not a banana since bananas have huge oval leaves, and your tree has multiple leaflets. It lloks like something from the legume family on first sight. Looking in "Nos mata-i palunan/Onze planten en bomen/Our Plants and Trees" by Dr. Bart A. De Boer, it could be a Divi-Divi tree, due to the curved seed pod (could be mistaken for a single banana). It could also be a mesquite or cossie tree, but De Boer says that the Divi Divi has curved seed pods.
Divi-divi trees are the signature tree of Bonaire, so a good sighting if I'm correct on the tree ID.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gary Thuillier (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #185) on Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 8:09 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I'm pretty sure Fiona is correct on the Divi divi tree. We bought a decorated pod from Yenni, a local folk artist and that's what she said it was from.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dara Walter (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #632) on Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 10:24 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

It's a Flamboyant. There's a very nice one in front of the Catholic Church on the way out of town towards Sorobon.

DELONIX REGIA - ROYAL POINCIANA.

Synonym: caesalpinia regia.
Common name: flamboyant, royal poinciana, flame tree, peacock flower, flamboyan.
Family: leguminosae (bean family).

A deciduous tropical tree with fern-like leaves, that is considered one of the most beautiful trees in the world!
Although it is a fast grower, it can take up to 10 years to mature.
Flamboyant or royal poinciana as it is called, blooms in dense clusters and burst into scarlet orange blossoms.
During the dry season in Suriname it loses all of it's leaves.
Blooming starts at the beginning of the rainy season; before the leaves begin sprouting.
However, in climates when winter is not much dryer than summer, it is a semi-evergreen tree.
Originally from Madagascar, it grows abundantly in Suriname.
The tree of flamboyant is often more that 40 feet high with wide spreading branches from a domed top, sometimes even reaching the ground.
It has brown seed-pods 2' long, resembling rezone strops.
There are two varieties known: involucrata (paradise poinciana) and regia.
It has a very thick root that is able to lift pavement up!

http://www.tropilab.com/delonix-reg.html

flamboyant

I once flew back to the states when they were in full bloom in Florida and it was magnificent to see from the air.




 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By J.J zambrano mazzei (BonaireTalker - Post #81) on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 4:31 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

the local name is Flamboyant,grows in the caribbean and in some parts of South America,also in South Florida mostly in Miami-Fort lauderdale area and the keys.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fiona Rattray (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #281) on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 10:55 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Dara and JJ:
The seed pods looked more curved than I remeber Flamboyant pods being. Checking back through "Our Plants and Trees" there doesn't seem to be a listing for the beautiful Flamboyant; Dinah Veeris's
"Green Remedies and Golden Customs of our Ancestors"
does list the tree, but the photo is of the red flower, not so much the leaves and seed pods. The Divi divi flowers are white, not red, so Lee, I guess I'll just have to sit under the tree in the blooming season to find out for sure :-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Smits (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #189) on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 3:47 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi hope solves your problem: both flowers ans seed pods:
I had one in my garden in Curacao. Undermentioned link is from Google. (missed their IPO)
http://laurent.mayolle.free.fr/photos/Flamboyant.jpg

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dara Walter (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #633) on Sunday, November 14, 2004 - 12:16 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Here's the Divi-Divi Tree and some taxonomic info:
divi
"Divi divi - Caesalpinia coriaria

General information: This is the national tree of Curacao. In sheltered locations, the tree is symmetrical with a spreading mounded top as shown in the illustration. Exposed to the prevailing winds, however, it leans away from the wind, and its top, growing mostly to the lee side, appears to be blown out horizontally in the wind. In this characteristic it can be confused with Crescentia cujete (calabash tree) which may do the same. The pods are a rich source of tannin. As a tree it grows to approximately 30 feet tall.
Leaves alternate, 2x even-pinnate; leaflets numerous, regularly nearly touching to overlapping; each less than 1/2" long. The leaf is as fine as the Sweet acacia. Flowers are small, in terminal clusters, white or yellow, pea-like, inconspicuous, very fragrant and attractive to bees. Fruit are small curved, dished, or twisted flat pod with rounded ends, about 1 in. wide; often little longer than wide. The trunk and branches are gnarled, with gray bark." (apologies - I lost my reference string :-(

IMO, the flamboyant and divi are only similar in leaf structure really; the flowers and fruits are quite different. There is another pod bearing tree on the island, Tamarind, which produces edible fruits that are made into juice and used in cooking sauces. It is not a legume. There is a Tamarind in town just behind Croccantino also infront of City Cafe.

If anyone is on-island with a tree question there are two good reasources (besides the books :-) Jerry Ligon at BDA and Spike Stapert at Tortuga Gallery.
Sipke and Dianir have also prepared the beautiful tree/foliage/flower display at the Washington Park museum.

Many people think the island has only marine attractions, but the terrestrial flora and fauna are very interesting for the curious mind and observant eye. The beauty of the desert landscape is perhaps an acquired taste :-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Smits (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #191) on Sunday, November 14, 2004 - 6:03 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Divi Divi à la Bob
divi

National Park Bonaire; june 2004

 


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