Conch shell with white bouganvillea flowers at Harbour Club Villas.
Marta
Conch n’ flowers
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Category Archives: Flowers
Lignum Vitae….Tree of Life
The beautiful Lignum Vitae is found throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands
The other day I noticed a Lignum Vitae just loaded with bright yellow-orange fruits. The fruits are capsule shaped and they split open in September and October to expose black seeds that are enclosed in a fleshy red pulp.
Lignum Vitae translated from Latin means "tree of life" and was used in folk medicine as well as being prized by carpenters.
Commonly called ironwood, the wood is so dense that it will not float even in seawater. Lignum Vitae is the heaviest and densest wood in the world and will rapidly sink to the bottom when placed in water. It resists rot caused by insects and moisture that lignum vitae wood used as posts for dwellings by Taino Indians have been found. Loyalist settlers also harvested valuable hardwoods from the Caicos bush and exported them to Europe.
When the lignum flowers, the whole tree is laden with beautiful blue-violet blossoms.
The resin has been used for many years, in the treatment of arthritis and other ailments. At one stage it was thought to work both a contraceptive and a treatment for syphilis. Teas have been prepared from various parts of the tree and have been used to treat boils, swollen glands, fevers, aches and pains.
Close up of a colourful seed pod.
flowers bloom at different times and is generally because of seasonal rains.
What an amazing tree…………even the insects and nectar drinking birds love the nectar of the Lignum Vitae.
Marta
Papaya or Paw Paw
Papaya trees come in one of three sexual forms: male, female and hermaphrodite and the photo above is of a male flowering papaya.
The Papaya tree or Paw Paw is found growing wild throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands and we have several here at Harbour Club. Presently, Barry and I are juicing these wild papayas almost every day as we have so many that are ready to eat right now.
Male flowers are formed in clusters and grow on a branched drooping stalk
Male Papaya flowers have no ovaries and therefore do not produce any fruit. Female flowers have an ovary and are borne on the stem of the plant where the leaf is attached.
Beautiful yellow flowers of the female gender have five petals and are rather waxy looking.
Some papaya bear only short stalked female flowers while others bear male clusters of flowers and pollination is done by the wind.
The bright yellow petals start to wilt and turn brown as the fruit starts growing
A small papaya fruit appears and starts to grow
The ovary of a female Papaya plant must receive pollen from either a male or hermaphrodite plant before it can be fertilized and produce a fruit bearing viable seeds. Insects and or the wind will carry the pollen.
A small baby papaya starts to grow as the yellow petals die off.
Harbour Club's papaya trees are loaded with small fruits ready to be picked.
Papaya trees can grow from 6 to 20 feet tall and have a head of foliage much like a palm tree up at the top. The trunk is soft wooded, never developes a bark and is ringed with scars from previous leaf stems that have dropped off.
Tall papaya trees reaching to the skies laden with fruits
Wild papaya fruits aren’t really that large but they are favoured by the birds so long as Barry doesn’t get to them first. They are delicious served up as a smoothie or eaten with lots of fresh lime juice.
If you throw out these seeds they'll be sure to grow more trees.
Papain from the papaya is used by the locals and applied topically for the treatment of cuts, rashes, stings and burns. It is said that Christopher Columbus named the papaya or paw–paw, ‘the fruit of the angels’. Try some papaya with fresh lime juice for a tasty treat…….it is ripe and soft and has a sweet and delightfully vibrant orange flesh much like the consistency of a peach.
Marta
Pretty Spider’s Web
Liquid sunshine pearl drops on a spider's web taken one afternoon that I found irresistable for a photo.
I’m not a big fan of spiders at any time but when I came across a spider’s web dotted with drops of rain after one of our brief rain showers, I couldn’t resist trying to get some photos.
It was fascinating the way the silvery drops hung delicately off the silken strands of the web
The spider's web with strands of liquid pearls stood out from the backdrop of one of my fushia coloured bouganvillea.
The gardens here at Harbour Club Villas always present something interesting or new for me to photograph. Yesterday for example, I couldn’t get a photo of a baby dove that was trying to fly. It was in our wild area hidden somewhat by the bush. Never mind……..there’s always shots that are missed but something else always comes along to take its place.
Marta
Jamaican Caper Tree
A beautiful Jamaican Caper Tree with a mass of exotic looking blooms that turn from white to pink
I was up at a friends house and happened to notice a beautiful Caper Tree that was in full bloom. This particular tree seems to stand out when you look in the bush because it has very dense and full looking foliage with green leaves the undersides of which are a reddish brown.
The white flowers look like fireworks because of the long filaments coming from the centre of the flower
Jamaica Caper flowers have very showy, two-inch-long, purple stamens and white anthers and white petals. When the flower first opens usually at night it is white and they turn purple when the morning light hits them.
The pinkish purple flowers have numerous long deep purple stamens that burst out of the centre like fireworks
This cluster of flowers looked like pinwheel fireworks
The Caper flower has long two inch stamens that are a purple colour and the flower itself has four petals
The Caper Tree has very fragrant flowers that are loved by nectar loving birds and butterflies
Caper Trees are found growing throughout Provo and keeps all its foliage even when we have drought conditions.
Take a look as you are driving around and see if you can spot these trees. With all the flowers, they shouldn’t be too hard to find.
Marta
Mini Passion Flower Vine
A beautiful miniature Passion Flower vine started growing under one of our palm trees
I was doing some weeding the other day and came across the most beautiful miniature Passion Flower vine complete with tiny fruits the size of peas. The flowers were a pale yellow and smaller than a dime. I don’t really know what kind of Passiflora it is but it could be a Passiflora suberosa according to some of the books.
You can see how tiny the fruit is as I hold them on my fingers.
My fingers are quite small………my middle finger is 2 1/2 inches long so that gives you an idea of the size. This mini Passion Flower Vine was growing very happily under one of our Palm Trees.
Beautiful and tiny this wild passion flower bloom was just resting on some gravel.
Here's a couple of passion fruits hanging from the vine
When the fruits turn a dark purple-black colour, they are favoured by the birds
This pretty, small passionflower vine often creeps along the ground throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands. You really have to look closely for it !!
Marta
Desert Rose Seed Pods
What do you think this is a photo of?
I was cleaning up the pool area today and discovered my desert rose had a large seed pod that had just burst open. There was a little bit of a wind today so I had a great opportunity to take photos of the seeds before catching the wind and being dispersed.
The seed has fluffy, dandelion like tufts on either side of the seed itself
Brownish casing with seeds ready to burst out
The Desert Rose has bean-like seed pods. When the seed pod is fully ripe on the plant, it will split open revealing seeds with beautiful “wings” so that seeds can blow away.
The seeds were just waiting for the wind to blow them away.
Desert Rose with seed pods holding a large mass of seeds
Here's one of my large Desert Rose bushes when it was in full bloom a month or so ago.
Marta
Frangipani blooming
You should see my Frangipani right now........beautiful blooms and the scent is divine!
Outside our bedroom window, my Frangipani is blooming to beat the band. A profusion of white blossoms with yellow centres.
Several commercially cultivated Frangipanis grow here bearing beautiful pink, cream or red flowers
There’s a stunning pink Frangipani out at Da Conch Shack in Blue Hills. These next photos were taken there a few years back.
Such a pretty combination of pink blossoms with yellow centres
The Frangipani is also known as Plumeria
Last but not least is our local Plumeria Obtusa or Frangipani which has smaller, white and highly fragrant flowers that appear in clusters at the end of the branch. Usually the frangipani grows to the hight of a small tree or shrub reaching about 4 meters.
Local Frangipani or Plumeria grows wild with beautiful clusters of white flowers
We have several wild Frangipanis growing at Harbour Club Villas. They are drought resistant and have large seed pods which burst open releasing winged seeds.
Seed pod on a wild Frangipani
Wild Frangipani flowers have oblong petals that are five lobed and with yellow centres
Frangipanis bloom in the spring and summer and as you drive around our island be sure to look in the bush. You’ll surely sight numerous trees covered with white blooms. Be sure to stop and smell these fragrant flowers.
Marta
Opuntia Cactus
Beautiful yellow blooms on an Opuntia Cactus at Harbour Club Villas
All this dry weather and no rain has been ideal for our large Opuntia Cactus also known as Prickly Pear Cactus. It is blooming to beat the band with large bright yellow flowers.
A dried Almond leaf reveals two lizard or anole eggs.
A dried almond leaf was caught up in the spikes by the flower I wanted to take a picture of. I gently pulled it out of the way and discovered two eggs hidden inside the curled up leaf. I can’t tell whether they are anole eggs or those of the curly tailed lizard.
Close up of the centre of the Opuntia Cactus flower
Take time out during your day to see some of the natural beauty around you!
Marta
Desert Rose
- To all you beautiful and special Moms out there…….HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
Wishing Moms everywhere a sun shiny day filled with love and laughter and a rose or two. Our Desert Roses here at Harbour Club Villas seem to be thriving in the dry weather we’ve had of late. They are loaded with beautiful pink and deep pink blooms.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Marta