What is a Native Plant? Native to where?

It is true that all Cayman Islands native plants are tropical, but it is not true that all tropical plants are native to the Cayman Islands. A plant that’s native to southern Florida may, or may not, be native to the Cayman Islands.

A Cayman Islands native species is one that occurs naturally in the Cayman Islands without direct or indirect human actions. S ome plants and animals are native to only one or two of the three Cayman Islands .

For example, Ironwood is a Cayman Islands native tree that is also endemic to the Cayman Islands, it grows here and nowhere else in the world.  There are two slightly different varieties of Ironwood, one grows only on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman ( Chionanthus caymanensis var. caymanensis) and the other grows only on Grand Cayman ( Chionanthus caymanensis var. longipetala). Silver Thatch ( Coccothrinax proctorii) is endemic to all three Cayman Islands. Fiddlewood ( Petitia domingensis) is native to Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Greater Antilles and the Bahamas, Strawberry is native to the West Indies, Florida, Mexico and northern Central America. Mango is introduced and has become naturalized – it grows in the wild, but is native to India.

Common names:

Different countries have different common names, sometimes more than one for the same plant, or one name may refer to several different plants, for example – Ironwood. Scientific names avoid the confusion of which plant is being referred to.

Why grow native plants?

The Cayman Islands were discovered by Columbus over 500 years ago.  Permanent settlement came later. Native plants were used for shelter, food, clothing, healing, everyday utility, boatbuilding, livelihood and export. They are part of the history, culture and identity of the Cayman Islands and what makes them unique. Native plants and animals are interdependent – the Birds and the Bees and the ….Fiddlewood trees – you can’t have one without the other!