Flora & Fauna

After basking in the rays and soaking in the crystal clear water, take a moment to enjoy the beauty on land. St. Croix's flora and fauna decorate hillsides and roads alike in brilliant colors. As you travel around the island, you can appreciate not only the beauty, but the tremendous contribution that these natural resources have made in shaping our culture over centuries. Learn about the medicinal and practical uses of our most common plants. Read about the importance of our agricultural products, and realize how they have not only shaped our lives, but our economy and culture as well.

Click here to join us for a hike on St. Croix's South Shore and learn more about our native plants.

Get ready for Mango Melee on July 6 at the St. George Village Botanical Gardens. READ MORE and then see our Flora & Fauna photo album.

Bougainvillea

With many varieties and colors, it is no wonder that this bush is seen so often. Colors range from a dark red to a subtle white. Leaves are small, elliptical, and become narrow to a point. Flowers grow in clusters of bright color, excluding the white for obvious reasons, and the purple that tends to fade with age. Enclosed inside each "paper" case is a single, tiny, tubular, white flower. This plant is named after Louis de Bougainville, whom was a French navigator. While in Brazil, he found these beauties and brought them back to his home in Europe for cultivation. They readily root from cuttings, prefer full sun, and can withstand drought as well as heavy pruning. When admiring these beauties, be careful not to grab a hold of their stem. They do have large, widely spaced thorns.

Frangipani

These beautiful flowers are most commonly seen as white with a diffused yellow center, or bright pink with a yellow to orange center. The flowers grow singly or clustered among narrow to broadly elliptical leaves. The basic branching pattern of a frangipani look like 'Y's. Today, the Frangipani is mostly used for ornamental purposes, though traditionally the milky sap was applied to fresh wounds as a disinfectant. However, it is usually noted that plants containing a milky sap are dangerous and should not be touched, and definitely not eaten.

Ginger Thomas

Native to tropical and subtropical America, Texas, New Mexico and Florida, this beautiful yellow flower can be found thriving year round on St. Croix from hillsides and thickets alike. Ginger Thomas is so abundant that it is considered our territory's flower. Not only is it a pleasure to look at, but historically, it has proved to have great medicinal value. The leaves of the Ginger Thomas are used to reduce fever and to strengthen a woman's body after childbirth. The leaves have also been known to ease symptoms of the common cold, diabetes, headaches, and high blood pressure, while the roots have been used to ease symptoms of syphilis. Take a moment to smell the flowers! The scent is fragrant, like that of champagne.

Hibiscus

Because of its great beauty and hardiness, the Hibiscus has become a well-known and well-loved plant. It may be the official flower of Hawaii, but the Hibiscus can be seen in the Virgin Islands growing wildly along the roadside, or elegantly covering a window by someone's home. Its presence is also seen in the states, unfortunately, during winter month's, it can only thrive indoors. There are many different species of this beauty, one being from Asia, the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, and one from East Africa, the Hibiscus schizopetalus. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis has leaves that are simple and broadly oval. They narrow into a point and are about 3 to 6 inches long. Blooms are solitary, enormous, 5-parted and come in colors of red, orange, pink, yellow, lavender, or white. Less common are combinations of these colors. Schizopetalus, has coarsely toothed leaves, narrowing outward into a point, and a shorter stalk with a somewhat wavy surface. Flowers are a pale red. The 5 petals are bent back, deeply and repeatedly cut and curved into a striking display. They are very similar to one another, except the schizopetalus has leaves that are more distantly spaced, and the branches are more delicate. The flower from any Hibiscus, whether on or off the plant, will remain fresh all day, and then wilt in the evening. A dye obtained from the red petals, though useful, will stain clothes. The petals of the Hibiscus can also be boiled, sweetened and made into a tea. A cutting from this hardy plant, when placed in water for a few weeks, will readily root. Locally, these plants are attacked and harmed by tiny white insects. Green Tea, steeped and sprayed on the infected leaves, helps to rid these pests without the use of chemicals.

Plumbago

Also called Leadwort because of its lead colored roots. Plumbago can be found growing wildly along the roadside or in planters around the island as decoration.In clusters among simple, elliptical leaves, the flowers are a light blue or lavender color. Each flower is 5 parted, long and tubular, with a distinctive mid-vein. The tube of each flower is covered with sticky hairs, making it easy for the flowers to rest in one's hair or clothes for a little island color.These hairs aid in seed dispersal. This plant, grown as a very colorful hedge, should be pruned vigorously to reduce its sprawl. Because it is native to South Africa, Plumbago accepts our full sun and tropical heat.