The Wayaca An example of such a tree is the Wayaca (Guaiacum officinale). The name of the tree seems to be an Indian name that has stuck in our current language. Also known by kids as the puzzle tree, because the bark appears to consist of a large number of puzzle pieces. The wood of this slow growing tree is hard and heavy. Tales are told that this tree would be the one under which Jesus fell asleep. According to the tale, this is the reason it always stays green, even in very dry times. Because of the strength of the wood it was used extensively for ship building, and specifically for the keel. It was also deployed in the rafters of the landhouses and as spokes in cart wheels. Mangrove trees were used as rafters as well.
The Indju tree (Mesquite)The Mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) was and still is a beloved tree for charcoal burning. The tree is closely related to the North American Mesquite. The properties of the wood ensure long smoldering times of the coals, which is very useful if you need your stew to simmer for a few hours. The aroma of the wood is what makes it really popular, particularly in the United States. The smoky taste that is infused in barbecued steaks and other meats is very popular and is widely praised. Even nowadays the Indju is often used for charcoal burning on the island. If you follow the road to Banda’bou during weekends you will often see controlled smoke rising up from backyards. Chances are good that coals are being created for future ‘a la parilla’.
Mahok Perhaps the most famous and certainly most appreciated tree is the Mahok tree (Swietenia Mahogany). The beautiful color of the wood and its durability makes it perfect for furniture, and surviving antique furniture is often of this wood. Even now the tree is loved and old courtyards with large Mahok trees are sometimes ransacked. With this stolen wood modern furniture, ornaments and so forth are created.
Neem tree. (Azadirachta indica) Neem is a fast-growing tree that can reach a height of 15–20 metres (49–66 ft), rarely to 35–40 metres (115–130 ft). It is evergreen, but in severe drought it may shed most or nearly all of its leaves. The branches are wide spread. The fairly dense crown is roundish or ovular and may reach the diameter of 15–20 metres (49–66 ft) in old, free-standing specimens.
Tamarijn / Tamarind Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) (from Arabic: تمر هندی, romanized tamar hind, "Indian date") is a leguminous tree in the family Fabaceaeindigenous to tropical Africa. The genus Tamarindus is a monotypic taxon, having only a single species. The tamarind tree produces edible, pod-like fruit which are used extensively in cuisines around the world. Other uses include traditional medicines and metal polishes. The wood can be used in carpentry. Because of the tamarind's many uses, cultivation has spread around the world in tropical and subtropical zones.
Druifi (Coccoloba uvifera) A popular tree in Curaçao. Good shade tree.
Capable of surviving down to approximately 2°C, the tree is unable to survive frost. The leaves turn reddish before falling. Its seeds have to be planted immediately, for unlike most plants, they cannot withstand being stored for future planting. Coccoloba uvifera is wind resistant, moderately tolerant of shade, and highly tolerant of salt, so it is often planted to stabilize beach edges; it is also planted as an ornamental shrub. The fruit is very tasty, and can be used for jam or eaten directly from the tree. Coccoloba uvifera is a dioecious species; that is, male and female flowers are borne on separate plants, and cross-pollination is necessary for fruit to develop. Honey bees and other insects help pollinate these plants; male and female plants can be distinguished by the appearance of their flowers, as males usually show dead flower stalks.
Capable of surviving down to approximately 2°C, the tree is unable to survive frost. The leaves turn reddish before falling. Its seeds have to be planted immediately, for unlike most plants, they cannot withstand being stored for future planting. Coccoloba uvifera is wind resistant, moderately tolerant of shade, and highly tolerant of salt, so it is often planted to stabilize beach edges; it is also planted as an ornamental shrub. The fruit is very tasty, and can be used for jam or eaten directly from the tree. Coccoloba uvifera is a dioecious species; that is, male and female flowers are borne on separate plants, and cross-pollination is necessary for fruit to develop. Honey bees and other insects help pollinate these plants; male and female plants can be distinguished by the appearance of their flowers, as males usually show dead flower stalks.
Barba di yònkuman (Acacia glauca, Albizia lebbeck)
It's a tree that grows in most areas of our island . It's called Barba di Yonkuman or "Young Man's Beard" because of the beard like appearance of it's popped seeds...
It's a tree that grows in most areas of our island . It's called Barba di Yonkuman or "Young Man's Beard" because of the beard like appearance of it's popped seeds...
Ceder or Pink trumpet tree (Tabebuia heterophylla)
Tabebuia heterophylla is a fast-growing, semideciduous tree with a fairly sparse, spreading canopy; it can grow up to 18 metres tall. The straight, cylindrical bole can be 45cm in diameter. A very ornamental tree, valued for its floral display, it is often grown in gardens and parks.
Tabebuia heterophylla is a fast-growing, semideciduous tree with a fairly sparse, spreading canopy; it can grow up to 18 metres tall. The straight, cylindrical bole can be 45cm in diameter. A very ornamental tree, valued for its floral display, it is often grown in gardens and parks.
Apeldam (Ziziphus spina-christi)
Plant: Plant a small tree or a high shrub, deciduous or evergreen, up to 10 meter high.
Root: Develops an extremely long taproot up to 2 meter deep and spreading lateral roots.
Stem: Strongly branched, Bark light-grey to brown and fissured to very cracked and scaly; branches and shoots slender, greenwhite, long-flexuous drooping or short intricate, glabrous, with erect and curved thorns in pairs, 1 straight, the other curved.
Leaves: Leaves diffuse, leaf simple, petiolate, petioles 1-2.5 centimeter long; glabrous on upper surface, finely pubescent below, especially on the 3 conspicuous and clearly lighter colored lateral nerves; leaf blade ovate, ovate-lanceolate or elliptic, obtuse or acute and often mucronate at the apex, rounded and slightly skewed at the base, 2-5.5 x 1-3.5 centimeter, margin not clearly crenate-serrate to fine serrate to almost entire; at the base of the petiole 1 large straight and 1 small curved thorn.
Flowers: Inflorescence consisting of few- to 10-25-many-flowered axillar, sessile, subsessile or pedunculate, racemose cymes, peduncle 1-3 millimeter; flowers scented, greenish-yellow-white, 6 millimeter in diameter, pedicel 7 millimeter; calyx: saucershaped, sepals 5(-7), with flat spreading teeth or slips, acute at the apex, 1.9-2.3 millimeter long, ovate, more or less tomentose outside, keeled inside; corolla: petals 5, white, obovate, concave, somewhat cucullate, 1.5-2 millimeter long, alternating with the sepals, enclosing the stamens; stamens 5, free, epipetalous; filaments thick, 2 millimeter long; anthers oblong ovoid, cordate at the base, versatile, 0.5 millimeter long; honey disk large, often with a fringe of hairs around the base of the styles, 10-sulcate; ovary 2-locular, styles 2, united to above the middle and then spreading, not curved.
Fruits: Drupe fleshy, 2-locular, almost subglobose, yellowishgreen to yellow and coloring pale redbrown, 1-2 centimeter in diameter.
Seeds: The fruit contains 1 relatively large seed.
from cc
Plant: Plant a small tree or a high shrub, deciduous or evergreen, up to 10 meter high.
Root: Develops an extremely long taproot up to 2 meter deep and spreading lateral roots.
Stem: Strongly branched, Bark light-grey to brown and fissured to very cracked and scaly; branches and shoots slender, greenwhite, long-flexuous drooping or short intricate, glabrous, with erect and curved thorns in pairs, 1 straight, the other curved.
Leaves: Leaves diffuse, leaf simple, petiolate, petioles 1-2.5 centimeter long; glabrous on upper surface, finely pubescent below, especially on the 3 conspicuous and clearly lighter colored lateral nerves; leaf blade ovate, ovate-lanceolate or elliptic, obtuse or acute and often mucronate at the apex, rounded and slightly skewed at the base, 2-5.5 x 1-3.5 centimeter, margin not clearly crenate-serrate to fine serrate to almost entire; at the base of the petiole 1 large straight and 1 small curved thorn.
Flowers: Inflorescence consisting of few- to 10-25-many-flowered axillar, sessile, subsessile or pedunculate, racemose cymes, peduncle 1-3 millimeter; flowers scented, greenish-yellow-white, 6 millimeter in diameter, pedicel 7 millimeter; calyx: saucershaped, sepals 5(-7), with flat spreading teeth or slips, acute at the apex, 1.9-2.3 millimeter long, ovate, more or less tomentose outside, keeled inside; corolla: petals 5, white, obovate, concave, somewhat cucullate, 1.5-2 millimeter long, alternating with the sepals, enclosing the stamens; stamens 5, free, epipetalous; filaments thick, 2 millimeter long; anthers oblong ovoid, cordate at the base, versatile, 0.5 millimeter long; honey disk large, often with a fringe of hairs around the base of the styles, 10-sulcate; ovary 2-locular, styles 2, united to above the middle and then spreading, not curved.
Fruits: Drupe fleshy, 2-locular, almost subglobose, yellowishgreen to yellow and coloring pale redbrown, 1-2 centimeter in diameter.
Seeds: The fruit contains 1 relatively large seed.
from cc