Cayman Islands – Founded upon the Seas – and Mahogany
by P. Ann van B. Stafford
The three Cayman Islands are located in the western Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba and some 270 miles NW of Jamaica. Grand Cayman is 76 square miles, Little Cayman 10 square miles and Cayman Brac 14 square miles.
Mahogany, West Indian Mahogany – Swietenia mahagoni is native to Florida and the West Indies, including the three Cayman Islands.
Cayman’s plants and history are woven together, like the wattles of Wattle and Daub houses.
Grand Cayman Land Grants
1734 – 1742
Mahogany – Swietenia mahagoni, Endangered.
1730s – 1740s The first formal land grants were made in Cayman, mainly to cut Mahogany. Mahogany furniture had become popular in Britain and Europe and Mahogany surpassed turtle as Cayman’s most valuable product.
West Indian MahoganySwietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq.
Native to:
Bahamas, Cayman Is., Cuba, Dominican Republic, Florida, Haiti, Jamaica, Turks-Caicos Is.
Introduced into:
Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Caroline Is., China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, India, Laos, Leeward Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Marianas, Mauritius, Nicobar Is., Puerto Rico, Réunion, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is.
See below for more information about Big-leaf Mahogany, Honduras Mahogany – Swietenia macrophylla
The first Land Grants, made by the Governor of Jamaica in Spanish Town, Jamaica (1734 – 1742), were to cut Mahogany for export to Jamaica and thence to England.
1734 The first land grant was to Daniel Campbell, Mary Campbell (probably Daniel’s widowed mother) and John Middleton for 3,000 acres in the area between Prospect and North Sound.
House of Campbell and Middleton: between Hog Sty Bay and George Town Barcadere, somewhere in the vicinity of the present Butterfield roundabout, junction of North Sound Road and Esterley Tibbetts Highway.
In 1729 Daniel Campbell was granted 3000 acres in Westmoreland, Jamaica.
1734 Dec. 2. Battersby and Foster, two Jamaican merchants, made an agreement with John Bodden of Grand Cayman to take 8 male slaves to Grand Cayman cut Mahogany, in return for a quarter of the profits from the venture. John Bodden asked John Middleton for advice on the best place for lumbering.
1735 Battersby went to Grand Cayman, found the slaves working near the Great Sound at a place called Bodden’s Work. (A History of the Cayman Islands by Neville Williams 1970 p.17-18)
1735-1741 There was considerable informal settlement.
1741 Murray Crymble had a land grant of 1000 acres in Cayman. He was an absentee land patentee, a prominent Jamaican merchant, Receiver-General in Jamaica and extremely wealthy. He seems to have had mercantile dealings with Central America, including Roatán, one of the Bay Islands of Honduras.
1741 Samuel Spofforth, a wealthy absentee merchant, had a land grant of 1000 acres in West Bay. He was a prominent Bermudian shipowner. He cut Logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum), from Central America, for its dye, and also Mahogany, for its timber, from Cayman.
1741 William Foster had a land grant from the present centre of George Town south to Pull-and-Be-Damned Point, South Sound. Foster had become acquainted with this area of S.W. Grand Cayman during the 1730s, when he was in partnership with fellow Jamaican, Benjamin Battersby. They had an agreement to fell and cut Mahogany.
In 1745 William Foster of Kingston was granted 3000 acres alongside the Great River in Westmoreland, Jamaica.
1742 Mary Bodden, the final land grant of land of 1,000 acres, in the Newlands area, dated January 15.
1741-42 Land Grants A codicil stipulated that those who could prove, with two witnesses before a magistrate, that they had occupied, planted or felled trees within the granted land, could retain possession of that land, with 30 acres of adjacent woodland, provided that they took out a patent within two years. (Founded Upon the Seas, p.41)
1741-42 Land Grants – all grantees were to bring ten white servants into their plantation, regardless of how many slaves they owned. Walter / Watler may have come with Foster.
Surveyors:
Richard Jennings, from Bermuda
Thomas Newlands
1741 August Governor Edward Trelawney of Jamaica ordered Richard Jennings to survey Grand Cayman prior to grants of 1000 acres each to Spofforth, Foster and Crymble, to encourage settlement to defend from Spanish attack. Williams p.18
Thomas Newlands was a timber merchant. He surveyed Mary Bodden’s 1000 acres. Timber shipped to Jamaica via North Sound. Williams p.19
Problems of Land Tenure
It was Jamaican merchants who exploited the market for the hard woods in the interior, and the turtle trade.
Williams p.21
1739 -1748 Anglo-Spanish wars – War of Jenkins’ Ear
West Indian Mahogany tree in George Town, Grand Cayman
included Mahogany from Cayman.
Mahogany Furniture
Mahogany changed the British and European furniture industry.
Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779) was one of the leading cabinet-makers of the 18th. Century.
Rococo style was used in Chippendale’s designs of Mahogany chairs with intricately pierced slats and for elaborately carved furniture.
Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779) Biography, Furniture and Facts
What Materials are Used to Make Chippendale Furniture? | Laurel Crown
Probably one of the most distinguished British cabinetmakers of the 18th. Century, Thomas Chippendale launched a furniture style that is still one of the most sought-after antique furniture for collectors and admirers today. …. He was the mastermind behind a furniture style that was named after the artisan rather than the reigning monarch, which at that time was revolutionary.
Chippendale Mahogany Side Chair c.1760
An exceptionally fine 18th Century Mahogany Chippendale Side chair of superb colour and patina. The top rail crisply carved with scrolling leaf work and flowers, with finely carved tassel dropping from the centre. The superbly shaped pierced and carved interlaced splat flanked with roses. The well drawn cabriole legs are finely carved with an abundance of scrolls and curling leafs, terminating with a claw and ball foot. The carving extends from the shaped ear pieces at the top of the legs across the bottom of the front rail in a fine flower and ribbon pattern with punchwork to the background. A masterpiece from the pinnacle of the English chair making tradition,circa 1760
George III Mahogany library desk attritubed to Thomas Chippendale, c.1760. Sold for $168,750. Oct.17, 2017 at Christie’s in New York.
George III Mahogany breakfront bookcase by Thomas Chippendale, 1764. Sold for £2,057,250. on June 17, 2008 at Christie’s in London.
The English Mahogany Trade 1700-1793
by Adam Bowett November 1996
The Jamaica Trade: Gillow and the Use of Mahogany in the Eighteenth Century
By Adam Bowett
Mapping the Mahogany Trade in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Lecture by Adam Bowett, Yale University, November 2018
Furniture historian Adam Bowett outlines the development of the British and American mahogany trade from its tentative beginnings in the early 18th century to its climactic peak 150 years later. Bowett puts particular emphasis on the ways in which British colonial policy, combined with other commercial and economic factors, dictated the geographical spread of the trade, and considers the implications for current research on historic British and American mahogany furniture. Bowett has published widely in academic and popular journals and is the author of two books on English furniture.
Until 1760s over 90% of Mahogany imported to Britain came from Jamaica.
Cayman Exports
Mahogany, Fustic, Logwood, Turtles, Cotton and Silver Thatch rope were exported.
1764 third week of February – Mahogany carriers arrived in Kingston, Jamaica from Grand Caymanoes
50 ton brig Success
30 ton sloop Eagle recently captured and renamed
Together they unloaded 80 tons of timber at Kingston.
Their escort sloop also called Eagle carried 30 tons of Mahogany.
1764 April 15 ton Greyhound to Kingston from Grand Cayman with 15 tons of Mahogany
1765 Royal Navy officers Remark Books provide information about Cayman. HMS Active anchored off Grand Cayman. Captain Robert Carkett noted that there were about 20 families, most of whom cut Mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni) and Fustic (Maclura tinctoria) which were exported to Jamaica.
1768 March 30 30ton sloop Diamond arrived in Kingston from Grand Cayman with 400 ft Mahogany, 260 pieces of timber and 2 tons of Fustic, then set sail for Honduras in ballast.
Fustic – Maclura tinctoria, Family: MORACEAE, is native to the West Indies and continental tropical America. It was exported for its yellowish dye, known as fustic or khaki, which was extracted from the wood.
1765 Cayman – 2 Walter brothers married 2 Bawden sisters in Jamaica, parish unknown.
Waide Walter Snr, mariner, married Rachel Bawden
Stephen Walter, mariner, married Sarah Bawden
1765 William EDEN from Wiltshire, England (b.1737- d.1801), arrived in Grand Cayman from Jamaica
1770s Settlers produced cotton for export, and for their own consumption and passing vessels – corn, yams, sweet potatoes, plantains, melon, limes, oranges and other fruits and vegetables. A few people of considerable property between them owned half a dozen sloops and schooners – for turtling and trafficking to Jamaica
Cotton
Sea-island Cotton, Long-staple Cotton – Gossypium barbadense
Wild Cotton, Short-staple Cotton = Gossypium hirsutum
1773 Gauld survey map and notes, early settlers: population 450: “in all 39 families, consisting of at least 200 white people and above [the] same number of Negroes and Mulattoes.
21 families at Bodden Town (South Side), 13 at West End commonly called Hogsties (present day George Town), 3 at East End and 2 at Spot’s Bay.
Gauld map 1773
https://www.crouchrarebooks.com/maps/cayman-islands
1773 There was a triangular trade between Jamaica, Cayman and British Settlements in Central America, especially British Honduras (Belize) and along the Mosquito Coast.
1783 Memorandum and sketch map seized by Spanish authorities in Cartagena from Robert Hodgson Jr, British Superintendent of Mosquito Shore, who had been captured en route to England.
Reciprocal trade, between the British and Spanish colonies was continued, even though such trade was not formally permitted. Grand Cayman was an important relay station in this indirect trade. Some ships arriving in Kingston carried logwood, cocoa and sarsaparilla.
Cocoa, Chocolate tree – Theobroma cacao wasn’t grown in Cayman. It is native to continental tropical America.
Cocoa arrived in the British Isles in the 1650s, which was more or less at the same time as coffee. With Cromwell’s forces Britain took over the control of Jamaica from the Spanish. At the time cacao plantations were already flourishing there, and these became the main source of British chocolate.
Sarsaparilla – Smilax ornata = S. regelii is native to: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Nicaragua.
It has been introduced into Jamaica.
Sarsaparilla root was used, historically, in the treatment of syphilis.
(Wire Wiss, Wiry Vine – Smilax havanensis is native to the Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Cuba, Florida and Turks-Caicos Islands.)
Wiry Vine – the leaves were crushed and the juice taken for Malaria.
Wilfred Kings, Report on the Botanical Collection: Plants of Reputed Medicinal Value –
1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands.
Miskito Coast / Mosquito Shore of Nicaragua and Honduras
1787 Miskito Coast / Mosquito Shore of Nicaragua and Honduras evacuation by the British, to Grand Cayman via Belize, of 300 or so settlers including 250 slaves. The population was substantially increased and new cotton plantations were established.
Caribbean Mosquito Coast (or Miskito Coast)
Fustic – Maclura tinctoria
Fustic – Maclura tinctoria, is dioecious. Male and female flowers grow on separate trees. Fustic was exported for its khaki dye.
Logwood – Haematoxylum campechianum
1715 Logwood was introduced in to Jamaica by Henry Barham (father of Dr Henry Barham), Mesopotamia Sugar Estate, Westmoreland, Jamaica. The wood is ready to be cut into logs after 11 years, unlike Mahogany, which takes many years to reach maturity.
Logwood was introduced in to Grand Cayman, probably in the mid-eighteen century.
Logwood heartwood is red when freshly cut.
Logwood doesn’t float, Mahogany floats.
It has become invasive.
Description—The name of the genus comes from the Greek and refers to the blood-red colour of the heart-wood. Haematoxylon campeachianum is a crookedly-branched, small tree, the branches spiny and the bark rough and dark. The leaves have four pairs of small, smooth leaflets, each in the shape of a heart with the points towards the short stem. The flowers, small and yellow, with five petals, grow in axillary racemes.
Logwood and Brazilwood: Trees That Spawned 2 Nations
by Wayne P. Armstrong (Spring 1992)
Logwood – Haematoxylum campechianum
Brazilwood – Paubrasilia echinata synonym Caesalpinia echinata
Extract:
Brazilwood (Caesalpinia echinata)
There are European records of true red dyes during the Middle Ages, primarily from the heartwood of an Asian tree called sappanwood (Caesalpinia sappan). Sappanwood is native to India, Malaya and Sri Lanka, and is cultivated throughout the Asian tropics. The wood was imported into Europe since medieval times, but only in limited quantities. The dye was a beautiful red, the color of burning coals (in Old French and English “braise“) and was called bresil or brasil by the early Portuguese traders. In 1500, Portuguese ships discovered and claimed the Atlantic side of South America that straddled the equator and the tropic of Capricorn. This massive land was called “Terra de Brasil” and later Brazil, because of the dyewood trees (Caesalpinia echinata) that grew there in abundance. Like the closely related sappanwood, the valuable dye from brazilwood (called brazilin) became a popular coloring agent for cotton, woolen cloth and red ink. As with precious cargoes of gold and jewels, Portuguese ships loaded with brazilwood were favorite targets of marauding buccaneers on the high seas.
Logwood – Haematoxylum campechianum
Meanwhile, the Spanish had discovered another leguminous tree in Yucatan with a deep red heartwood very similar to brazilwood. The tree became known as logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum), and by the late 1500s Spanish ships were exporting large cargoes of the valuable heartwood from the Yucatan coast. At this time it was common practice for British privateers to attack and destroy the Spanish vessels. In his book British Honduras (1883), A. R. Gibbs describes one such privateer, a Captain James, who discovered that the debarked heartwood sold in England for the enormous price of one hundred pounds sterling per ton. English political economist Sir William Petty estimated that the average value of merchandise a ship of the 1600s could carry in a year was 1000 to 1500 pounds sterling. A single load of 50 tons of logwood was worth more than an entire year’s cargo of other merchandise!
There were other natural red and purple dyes used in medieval Europe, including
madder ,
carmine, Tyrian purple, and the lichen dyes orchil and cudbear. Like sappanwood, they were all imported from faraway lands and were very expensive. Since these animal and vegetable extracts were considered to be superior permanent dyes, many English dyers vigorously opposed the cheaper, imported heartwood dyes from Mexico and Central America. Between 1581 and 1662 an Act of Parliament strictly forbade the use of logwood for dyeing. Although anyone violating this law was subject to imprisonment or the pillory, some dyers apparently discovered the colorfast attributes of logwood and used it under other names.
Red Bay
Red Bay was so-called because the sea water was stained by Mahogany logs floating on the water, awaiting shipment to Jamaica.
The reddish-brown color is produced by carotenoid and anthocyanin pigments which are found in the
roots, stems, flowers, fruit, and rarely, in the leaves.
Cayman Islands Coat of Arms –
Motto: He Hath Founded It Upon The Seas
A Brief History of the Cayman Islands
by David Wells of the West India Committee
for the Government of the Cayman Islands
Big-Leaf Mahogany, Honduras Mahogany –
Swietenia macrophylla
Big-leaf Mahogany Swietenia macrophylla King
Native to:
Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru
Introduced into:
Andaman Is., Bangladesh, Caroline Is., Cayman Is., Comoros, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, French Guiana, Haiti, Jamaica, Laos, Leeward Is., Marianas, Nicobar Is., Puerto Rico, Seychelles, Solomon Is., Thailand, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Vietnam, Windward Is.
Big-leaf Mahogany, Honduras Mahogany – Swietenia macrophylla in the Dart Family Park, Grand Cayman. It was blown down by Hurricane Ivan in Sept. 2004.
Notes, References and Links
Cayman history, architecture, step-wells, house-shaped gravestones (grave markers) in Grand Cayman cemeteries, Cayman traditional arts and crafts. Catboats – local woods used catboat construction, Silver Thatch plaiting, gigs, calavans, paintings, Miss Lassie’s house, Wattle and Daub houses and the woods that were used in their construction.
1802 Lt. Governor Nugent Letters On The Cayman Islands
Corbet Report
1802 Grand Cayman Census
pp. 8-13
1656 Jamaica – The Settlers From Nevis
pp. 14-16, including Bowden
British Honduras, later called Belize
British Honduras: An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Colony From its Settlement, 1670
In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783
by Michael J. Jarvis, 2010
In an exploration of the oceanic connections of the Atlantic world, Michael J. Jarvis recovers a mariner’s view of early America as seen through the eyes of Bermuda’s seafarers. The first social history of eighteenth-century Bermuda, this book profiles how one especially intensive maritime community capitalized on its position “in the eye of all trade.”
Jarvis takes readers aboard small Bermudian sloops and follows white and enslaved sailors as they shuttled cargoes between ports, raked salt, harvested timber, salvaged shipwrecks, hunted whales, captured prizes, and smuggled contraband in an expansive maritime sphere spanning Great Britain’s North American and Caribbean colonies. In doing so, he shows how humble sailors and seafaring slaves operating small family-owned vessels were significant but underappreciated agents of Atlantic integration.
The American Revolution starkly revealed the extent of British America’s integration before 1775 as it shattered interregional links that Bermudians had helped to forge. Reliant on North America for food and customers, Bermudians faced disaster at the conflict’s start. A bold act of treason enabled islanders to continue trade with their rebellious neighbors and helped them to survive and even prosper in an Atlantic world at war. Ultimately, however, the creation of the United States ended Bermuda’s economic independence and doomed the island’s maritime economy.
Merchants and Merchandise in Seventeenth Century Bristol
Bristol Records Society’s Publications
Vol. XIX
Appendix H p.286
Merchandise imported into Bristol 9 Nov. 1654 – 27 Oct. 1655
Cotton wool (Barbados, Nevis)
Fustic (Barbados)
Ginger (Barbados, Nevis)
Indigo (Barbados, Nevis)
Wild Indigo – Indigofera suffruticosa, native to the Cayman Islands
Indigo – Indigofera tinctoria, introduced into the Cayman Islands, native to the Old World, but now naturalized in most warm countries, formally cultivated as a source of Indigo dye.
Indigo was not exported from Cayman.
While used for one reason or another in ancient cultures for thousands of years, the dye became commercially valuable in the Western hemisphere at the same time that the Caribbean islands were being colonized by Europeans in the 17th and 18th centuries.
While short-lived, indigo production, along with tobacco, cocoa, coffee and ginger, dominated the plantation economies from Barbados to Hispaniola a hundred years before sugar and cotton would become the most lucrative crops in the region in the mid 1700s.
…. there is actually no blue color in any of these indigo-bearing plants. The green leaves (and sometimes stems) of “indigo” plants yield a yellow or greenish color that turns blue with the magic of oxidation, especially as induced by man.
Although the growing and harvesting of the plants was not particularly hard work, the processing was neither a pleasant nor healthy enterprise.
Lignum vitae (Barbados, Nevis)
Appendix I p.288
Merchandise imported into Bristol 29 Sept. 1685 – 28 Sept. 1686
From America and the West Indies
The Trade of Bristol in the Eighteenth Century
Bristol Records Society’s Publications
Vol. XX
Glossary p.192
Index of Persons and Places p.195
Index of Selected Subjects p.205
Bristol harbor, published c.1850, with ten sailing ships and rowing boats before the channel was filled in 1892–1938. Black and white etching showing the towers of St Stephen’s Church, St Augustine the Less Church and Bristol Cathedral,
Jamaican Family Search Geneaolgy Research Library Historical Background
Mahogany introduced into India
1795 Mahogany seedlings – Swietenia mahagoni, from Jamaica, were taken by the British to India and planted in the Botanic Gardens of Calcutta. The trees flourished, but several were destroyed in the great cyclone of 1864.
Pimento, Allspice
Pimento, Allspice Tree – Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr.
Family: MYRTACEAE
Native to Mexico, Central American and the Caribbean
Early Spanish explorers found the tree growing in Jamaica. It was identified in about the year 1509 and is closely related to the Bay Tree and to Cloves.
The tree is called Pimento and the berries Allspice. The cured berries combine the flavour qualities of Cinnamon, Cloves, Pepper and Nutmeg.
Pimento in Grand Cayman (Pimenta dioica):
“This species was at first thought to be solely an introduced cultivated plant until the dead remains of several very large old trees were found in a George Town building site. Later, documents were found in the Cayman Archives that recorded the export of significant amounts of Allspice from the Cayman Islands in the early to mid nineteenth century. It appears that groves of Pimento trees formerly grew in the part of Grand Cayman that is now urban George Town, but all original trees have now disappeared. Meanwhile, a few young trees are now developing from seeds or seedlings brought from Jamaica. However, the evidence suggests that the Allspice tree should be considered indigenous to Grand Cayman.”
George R. Proctor, Flora of the Cayman Islands, 2012, p.406
Tree: to 20 m tall; young branches flattened and 4-angled.
Bark: mottled cream, brown and tan, twisting lumpy surface that peels off in flakes
Leaves: Opposite, glandular dots more or less pellucid, strong aroma of pimento (allspice) when crushed
Flowers: inflorescence – panicle 6-12 cm long, many flowered, petals white, stamens numerous.
Individual flowers sometimes unisexual or apparently so.
Fruit: a fleshy, aromatic, 2-seeded berry, black when ripe.
Seeds: tough seed coat; the seeds lose their viability quickly; germination is more likely when the seeds have passed through the gut of a bird.
The green fruits turn black when ripe. George Town, Grand Cayman, Jan. 15, 2014.
3 Pimento trees on School Road, George Town, Grand Cayman July 21, 2003
Pimento trees on School Road, George Town, Grand Cayman after Hurricane Ivan (Sept. 2004)
Uses: the dried fruits (picked full-size when still green) are used as spice, for flavouring numerous foods. Oil extracted from seeds, leaves, and bark is used to scent cosmetics, foods, and many other things. The wood has various uses. Young saplings are used as walking sticks.
Pimento tree in a garden on South Church St, Grand Cayman, Feb. 6, 2009
Pimento Dram is a Jamaican liqueur with a rum base flavoured with Allspice.
Click here for more pictures and information: Jamaican Pimento
Medicinal Plants in the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands Medicinal and Healing Plants, Bush Medicine
and old-time remedies.
by Ann Stafford, CaymANNature, August 16, 2019
The information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be an endorsement of any of the old-time remedies. Some parts of a plant, ripe or unripe, may heal, while other parts of the same plant may be poisonous. There may be a fine line between kill and cure.
Licorice, John Crow Bead, Rosary Pea, Crab’s Eyes – Abrus precatorius, the seeds contain ABRIN and are extremely poisonous.
Castor Oil plant – Ricinus communis, the seeds contain the highly poisonous RICIN and can be fatal if swallowed. Heat inactivates ricin (a protein).
“The claims made for some of the plants may occasionally be justified by their chemical constituents. Some of them are, or have been, in the pharmacopoeias. On the other hand, in many cases the claims either have little justification or remain to be substantiated. Many of the doses used are of an unpleasant and even drastic nature. This may account for their popularity in view of the general impression that medicine must be unpleasant to be efficacious.”
Medicinal Plants of Jamaica by G.F. Asprey and Phyllis Thornton. Reprinted from the West Indian Medical Journal. Vol. 2 No. 4. Vol. 3 No. 1. 1953
Medicinal Plants JAMAICA 1953_Asprey, Thornton
MEDlCINAL PLANTS OF JAMAICA. PARTS 1 – IV
By F. Asprey, M.Sc., Ph.D. (B’ham.), Professor of Botany, U.C.W.l. and Phyllis Thornton, B.Sc. (Liverpool), Botanist Vomiting Sickness Survey. Attached to Botany Department, U.C.W.I. Reprinted. 86 pages.
Caribbean Sea
Glossary
decoction – boiled; the liquor resulting from concentrating the essence of a substance by heating or boiling, especially a medicinal preparation made from a plant.
dioecious – male and female flowers grow on separate plants.
infusion – steeped; a drink, remedy, or extract prepared by soaking the leaves of a plant or herb in liquid.
monoecious – separate male and female flowers grow on the same plant.
Cayman 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. Several trees around the world are called Ironwood, but Cayman’s culturally important Ironwood trees are only found in the Cayman Islands – Chionanthus caymanensis. Scientific names avoid confusion of which plant is being referred to.
Rosemary – Croton linearis is a common culturally significant Cayman shrub. It is called Pineland Croton or Granny-Bush in the US). It should not be confused with the culinary woody, perennial herb, Rosemary – Rosmarinus officinalis, native to the Mediterranean region, or the variegated leaf landscaping shrub, Croton – Codiaeum variegatum.
Links:
1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands HERBARIUM
Links to photo albums:
Cayman Medicinal Plants and Cultural Uses
Wilfred Kings
Wilfred Kings was invited to join the 1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands by Gemmell Alexander on March 21, 1938 in the capacity of Botanist, as their Botanist was unable to join the Expedition at last moment.
Report on the Botanical Collections
from Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman
Wilfred Kings Sept. 1938
Grand Cayman May 13 – May 17 and June 11 – Aug.10
Cayman Brac May 18 – May 28
Little Cayman May 28 – June 11
Kings saw Mr Alston at the British Museum (Natural History), explained the situation, and that he was not a Specialist in any capacity. They were satisfied that he should go merely as a Collector.
Natural History Museum, London, England
Mr Charles Elton and Dr Hobby in a interview at the Hope Department of Entomology, Oxford, were also willing for Kings to work in that capacity. Charles ELTON
Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby, Governors granted Kings a leave of absence for the term, where he was the Geography Master. Kings eventually joined the party in Grand Cayman on May 13, 1938.
The Collection, as far as the Flowering Plants and Ferns were concerned, was almost entirely in duplicate.
FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS by George R. PROCTOR, 2012 Extracts from p.19 and 21
‘The Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands, a party of five under the leadership of W.G. Alexander, carried out fieldwork from April 17 to August 27, 1938. The primary objects of attention were plants, insects, reptiles, and fishes, but nearly all animal taxa received some attention. The official botanist of this group was Wilfred W. KINGS, who joined the expedition about a month later than the others; he had been especially recruited from Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby, because Oxford had no available botanist at that time. Before his arrival, some plant-collecting was done by C. Bernard LEWIS, whose interests were otherwise chiefly zoological. Kings gathered a large collection of material from all three islands; until recently, these excellent specimens constituted the major basis of our knowledge of the Cayman flora. The main set of the Kings collection is deposited at the British Museum (Natural History) in London, while duplicate material can be found in several other herbaria.
Lewis, then an Oxford student (a Rhodes Scholar from the United States), later became Director of the Institute of Jamaica in Kingston; he collected further Cayman plant specimens during the 1940s. His continued interest in the Cayman Islands has been a constant source of encouragement during the writing of this book.’
‘Collectors of Cayman Islands plants
Wilfred W. KINGS May-Aug. 1938. 645 specimens seen in Herbaria at British Museum, (Natural History), Gray Herbarium of Harvard University and Missouri Botanical Garden.
Bernard LEWIS Apr. 1938, Dec. 1944, Mar. 1945, Dec. 1945. 45 specimens seen in Herbaria at British Museum and Institute of Jamaica.’
TROPICOS Missouri Botanical Garden, Collector W. Kings 1938
Oxford University Expedition1938
Report on botanical collections from the Cayman Islands
by WILFRED KINGS
extract: Plants of reputed Medicinal Value
Harmful plants
Maiden Plum – Comocladia dentata. DO NOT TOUCH – poisonous sap, skin irritant
Kings GC 115, Lewis 3612.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.487. Pl.44.
A to Z Cayman common name
Aloe Vera, Alloways, Bitter Aloes, Sempervivie, Sempervirens, Sinkle Bible – Aloe vera
Kings GC 122
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.174
Aunt Eliza Bush (Twining Soldierbush) – Myriopus volubilis syn. Tournefortia volubilis
Shrubby vine
GC 140, LC 12.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.559
Basil, Tea Basil, Pimento Basil – Ocimum campechianum syn. O. micranthum
Kings GC 213; LC 6.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.591
Ocimum campechianum = O. micranthum
Basil, Sweet Basil – Ocimum basilicum
GC 135
Sweet Basil – Ocimum basilicum, very aromatic, growing in a Cayman garden, Oct.4, 2019
Bay Vine – Ipomoea pes-caprae brasiliensis
A trailing vine, pantropical on sandy seashores.
The sticky upper surfaces of the young leaves were placed between sore toes, Kings 1938.
Kings GC 67; LC 18; CB 19.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.552
Birch, Red Birch; (Gumbo Limbo – US) – Bursera simaruba
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.484
Broadleaf – Cordia sebestena var. caymanensis
Kings GC 63; LC 4; CB 89.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.567
Broadleaf – green, unripe fruits
Broadleaf – white, ripe fruits
Castor-oil Plant, Castor Bean Plant, – Ricinus communis
Kings GC 128, 145; LC 108; CB 80, 81.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.457
Castor Bean Plant, Lorna McCubbin 1995
Cat Claw – Volkameria aculeata syn. Clerodendrum aculeatum
A shrub with spiny, arching branches and white flowers. The leaves were boiled as a remedy for coughs.
Kings GC 133, 148.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.584.
Caymania, Sweetheart – Desmodium adscendens
The Cayman Islands have several species of Desmodium – D. gangeticum, D. triflorum – Creeping Tick-trefoil, D. incanum – Chick Weed, D. tortuosum – Twisted Tick-trefoil, D. adscendens – Caymania, Sweetheart.
The seedpods have hooked hairs (the inspiration for Velcro) and cling to clothing, humans, animals, birds – hence the name ‘Sweetheart’.
D. adscendens (Sw.) DC. (accepted name) range: tropical South and Central America, the Caribbean and tropical Africa. It is a lawn weed in Cayman.
Caymania, Sweetheart – Dedsmodium adscendens, showing flowers and seedpods.
Desmodium adscendens – Useful Tropical Plants
‘The plant has become a weed in many areas of the tropics and is often considered to be invasive. Because of the abundant small uncinate hairs on most species, the seedpods cling most tenaciously to clothing, to any part of the human body, and also to the feathers and hair of various animals, thus ensuring a wide dispersal of the plants.
Plants can flower and produce fruit all year round.
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria; these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby.
In Cayman, it is marketed as ‘Caymania’.
Caymania – Desmodium adscendens
Cerasee – see Serasee – Momordica charantia
Cochineal, Scotchineal, (Prickly Pear) – Nopalea cochenillifera syn. Opuntia cochenillifera
Kings GC 340; CB 33.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.259
Coconut – Cocos nucifera
Kings CB 52, 53.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.165
Cow-itch – Mucuna pruriens
Kings GC 228.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.371
Cow Tongue, Long Strap Fern – Campyloneurum phyllitidis syn. Polypodium phyllitidis
A fern that grows on trunks or mossy bases of trees, in sheltered woodlands, uncommon in the Cayman Islands. The leaves were boiled for colds.
Kings F 2, F 2a, F 26, F 41, F 42.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.53. Fig.11, Pl.3
Cure-For-All – Pluchea carolinensis
A bushy shrub, used as a tea for colds, and hot as a poultice for strains or dislocations. Usage not recorded in Cayman.)
Kings GC 357.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.645.
Dandelion – Senna occidentalis syn. Cassia occidentalis
A shrub, the seeds were parched or roasted, ground and used to supplement coffee or as a coffee substitute.
Root dried and used for loss of appetite (Kings 1938)
Kings GC 220.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.388.
Dashalong, Ramgoat Dashalong, Cat-bush, (Yellow Alder) – Turnera ulmifolia
Kings GC 391; LC 102; CB 25
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.320, Fig.113.
Dogwood, (Fish Poison Tree) – Piscidia piscipula
A small tree. The bark, especially of the roots, has narcotic and poisonous properties. In some places, it was used to relieve toothache, and in Jamaica, to cure mange in dogs. The crushed bark and leaves, thrown into water, would stupefy most nearby fish, which floated to the surface.
Kings GC 318.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.378, Pl.29.
Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Paperbark tree – Melaleuca quinquenervia (not Eucalyptus globulus)
They belong to the same Family: MYRTACEAE.
The tree over-hanging Shedden Road, long thought to be Eucalyptus globulus, has been identified as Melaleuca quinquenervia. Eucalyptus Building on the right.
Cayman Compass Aug. 21, 2018
Flowers and leaves of Melaleuca quinquenervia.
Melaleuca quinquenervia trees are native to New Guinea and Australia; they are widely established in Central and South Florida, where they have become invasive.
Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2019-08-30.
‘Edible Uses
The essential oil obtained from the leaves is used as a flavour component in foods such as baked goods, candy, condiments, dairy desserts, meat and meat products, non-alcoholic beverages and relishes.
Medicinal
Cajeput oil obtained from leaves and twigs of this and related species by steam distillation is used in medicine and local remedies.
The foliar leaf oils of M. Quinquenervia fall into 2 classes, based on their chemical composition. One chemotype is rich in nerolidol (90%); the other is 1,8-cineole (30-70%) and sometimes viridiflorol (0-60%). It is the cineole-rich chemotype that is the source of niaouli oil, which is produced in New Caledonia. Niaouli oil is similar to cajuput oil in composition and medicinal use.
Tea Tree Oil (Melaeuca alternifolia), closely related to Melaleuca quinquenervia, and Eucalyptus Oil (Eucalyptus globulus) on the shelf of a local supermarket.
Cajeput oil is produced by steam distillation of fresh leaves and twigs of the Cajeput tree (Melaleuca leucadendra) and the Paperbark tree (Melaleuca quinquenervia). Don’t confuse cajeput oil with Tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) or Niauli oil (Melaleuca viridiflora).
Fever Grass, Lemon Grass – Cymbopogon citratus
Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2019-08-30.
‘Medicinal
Lemon grass is a bitter, aromatic, cooling herb that increases perspiration and relieves spasms. The essential oil obtained from the plant is an effective antifungal and antibacterial. The essential oil contains about 70% citral, plus citronellal – both of these are markedly sedative.
Internally, the plant is used principally as a tea in the treatment of digestive problems, where it relaxes the muscles of the stomach and gut, relieving cramping pains and flatulence.. It is particularly useful for children, for whom it is also used to treat minor feverish illnesses.
Externally, especially in the form of the extracted essential oil, the plant is a very effective treatment for a range of skin conditions including athlete’s foot, ringworm, lice and scabies. It is also applied to ease the pain of arthritic joints.’
Fowl Berry, Blood Berry – Rivina humilis
A perennial herb, with crimson berries. Fowl Berry leaves were used for treating ringworm. They were heated over the fire, rubbed together and applied to the affected area.
Kings GC 71; CB 47, 75, 101.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.248. Pl. 13.
Poisonous – The entire plant is poisonous, especially the leaves. Although birds will eat the berries, they are also somewhat poisonous to humans.
Goatweed – Capraria biflora
Kings GC 65a.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.598
Click here: Useful Tropical Plants – Goatweed – Capraria biflora
for uses and cautions.
Headache Bush – Quadrella cynophallophora syn. Capparis cynophallophora
Kings GC 142.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.333. Fig.118, Pl. 23.
Heart Plant, Duppy Gun, Minnie Root – Ruellia tuberosa
Herb with numerous tuberous-thickened roots. These were used in a mixed tea for blood disorders.
Kings GC 103.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.611, Fig.229.
Duppy Gun – the capsules shoot the seeds out explosively when wet.
Ruellia tuberosa is a Ayurvedic Medicinal Plant
Medicinal applications
In Suriname’s traditional medicine it is used as an anthelmintic, against joint pains and strained muscles; bladder diseases.
Also used as an abortifacient, The root is used against kidney diseases and for whooping cough. An infusion is used for cleansing the blood.
The root and leaf for alleviating retention of urine.
The leaves contain apigenin and luteolin while the seed oil yield myristic, capril and lauric acids.
Horseradish Tree, Maronga – Moringa oleifera
see Moringa
Juniper, Jennifer – Suriana maritima
Kings GC 22, 264; LC 85; CB 57.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.475, Fig.172, Pl.42.
Leaf-of-Life, Curiosity Plant – Kalanchoe pinnata syn. Bryophllum pinnatum
Kings GC 35a, 97a, 117, 146; CB 69.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.352.
Lemon Grass, see Fever Grass – Cymbopogon citratus
Licorice, John Crow Bead, Rosary Pea, Crab’s Eyes – Abrus precatorius
The roots of this pantropical, sometimes high-climbing vine, with pink flowers, contain glycerrhizin, which also occurs in commercial licorice. The seeds, scarlet with black spot, contain abrin and are extremely poisonous. The poison acts only through the blood stream, a small amount introduced into a wound could be fatal. However, it is destroyed by digestive juices and by boiling.
Kings GC 182a; CB 87.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.366, Fig.132, Pl.27.
The seeds were used to make jewelry and as weights by jewel merchants,
2 seeds = 1 carat (1 carat weighs 1/24 oz.)
FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS by George R. Proctor 2012 p.366. Fig.132, Pl.27.
Lime – Citrus X aurantifolia
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.493.
Moringa, Maronga, Horseradish Tree – Moringa oleifera
Kings GC 231
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.339
Overview Information
“Moringa is a plant that is native to the sub-Himalayan areas of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. It is also grown in the tropics. The leaves, bark, flowers, fruit, seeds, and root are used to make medicine.
Moringa is used for “tired blood” (anemia); arthritis and other joint pain (rheumatism); asthma; cancer; constipation; diabetes; diarrhea; epilepsy; stomach pain; stomach and intestinal ulcers; intestinal spasms; headache; heart problems; high blood pressure; kidney stones; fluid retention; thyroid disorders; and bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic infections.
Moringa is also used to reduce swelling, increase sex drive (as an aphrodisiac), prevent pregnancy, boost the immune system, and increase breast milk production. Some people use it as a nutritional supplement or tonic.
Moringa is sometimes applied directly to the skin as a germ-killer or drying agent (astringent). It is also used topically for treating pockets of infection (abscesses), athlete’s foot, dandruff, gum disease (gingivitis), snakebites, warts, and wounds.
Oil from moringa seeds is used in foods, perfume, and hair care products, and as a machine lubricant.
Side Effects & Safety
Moringa is POSSIBLY SAFE when taken by mouth and used appropriately. The leaves, fruit, and seeds might be safe when eaten as food. However, it’s important to avoid eating the root and its extracts. These parts of the plant may contain a toxic substance that can cause paralysis and death. Moringa has been used safely in doses up to 6 grams daily for up to 3 weeks.”
Mulberry, Hog Apple, Noni – Morinda citrifolia
Kings LC 112.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.628.
Naseberry, Neesberry, Sapodilla – Manilkara sapota
Tree with copius white latex. A tea was made from the leaves to treat the common cold.
Kings GC 347.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.346.
Manilkara sapota – Useful Tropical Plants
Old Lady Coat Tail – Priva lappulacea
Kings GC 87, 153.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.573.
Pepper Cinnamon – Canella winterana
The bark, and silky leaves, when broken, are very pleasantly, distinctively, aromatic.
Critically Endangered, culturally significant, Cayman Islands native tree. The wood was used to make Catboat sculls (oars).
Native to Florida & the West Indies, south to Barbados
Kings LC 15; CB 48.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.225. Fig.77, Pl.10
Useful Tropical Plants – Canella winterana
Pepper Cinnamon – velvety, crimson berries are eaten by birds
Periwinkle, Burying-Ground Flower, Ramgoat Rose – Catharanthus roseus syn. Vinca rosea
An erect herb, originally described form Madagascar, now cultivated and escaping in nearly all warm countries.
Kings GC 51, 221, 222; CB 60.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.519, Fig.191.
Pomegranate – Punica granatum
Not native to the Cayman Islands, it is sometimes planted horticulturally.
Kings GC 295.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.411.
Providence Mint, Sage – Lippia alba
Kings CB 51.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p
Quacori / Quacou, Velvet Leaf – Cissampelos pareira
Dioecious, slender, twining, often high-climing, vine.
Leaves used in cases of fish poisoning (Oxford Expedition).
Velvety leaves used for shining glass lampshades (Boosie Arch).
Pantropical.
Kings GC 120.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.235
(Note: Velvet-leaf is the Cayman common name for the shrub Melochia tomentosa.
Kings GC 423; LC 95; CB 15).
Cissampelos pareira – Useful Tropical Plants
Extract: “People take an infusion of the bitter rhizome, and sometimes of leaves and stems, to cure gastro-intestinal complaints such as diarrhoea, dysentery, ulcers, colic, intestinal worms and digestive complaints, and also urogenital problems such as menstrual problems, venereal diseases, infertility, uterine bleeding and threatening miscarriage. rhizome decoction or pounded leaves are also widely taken or externally applied as a febrifuge and stomachic, and is employed against cough, heart trouble, rheumatism, jaundice, snake bites and skin infections such as sores, boils, scabies and childhood eczema.
Juice from macerated leaves and stem is mixed with a little water and used as an anti-conjunctivitis or as a treatment for sore eyes. Leaves and stem are macerated in water an used as an anti-infective agent.”
Red Top, Hippa Cassini, (Scarlet Milkweed, Bloodflower) – Asclepias curassavica
Perennial herb, a wildflower found in pastures, said to be poisonous to livestock. Larval food plant of Milkweed butterflies, Danaus spp – Queens, Monarchs and Soldiers in Cayman.
Kings GC 152, 328.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.527, Fig.195.
Asclepias curassavica – Bloodflower
Rosemary (Cayman and Jamaica) Croton linearis ; (Pineland Croton or Granny-Bush – US) Rosemary is a dioecious, pleasantly aromatic shrub, a multipurpose plant. The leaves were steeped to make tea for striction, as a tonic, boiled to make a tea for diabetes or smoked as tobacco to relieve asthma.
Kings GC 52, GC 392; LC 9; CB 49.
FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS by George R. Proctor 2012 p.452. Fig.163. Pl.38. Note: The Cayman shrub, Rosemary, should not be confused with culinary woody, perennial herb, Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), native to the Mediterranean region, or the variegated leaf landscaping shrub, Croton (Codiaeum variegatum).
Culinary Mediterranean Rosemary – Rosmarinus officinalis, grown in Cayman and for sale in local supermarket.
Sage, Black – Varronia bullata ssp. humilis, syn. Cordia globosa var. humilis
A sprawling, much branched shrub. The little, white flowers attract butterflies.
Kings GC 126a.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.570.
Sage, White, Sweet Sage – Lantana camara syn. Lantana urticifolia
Kings GC 112, 314.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p
Scorn-the-Ground, Mistletoe – Phoradendron spp.
Small, parasitic shrubs on broad-leaved, woody plants. There are 3 species in the Cayman Islands: P. quadrangulare, P. trinervium, P. rubrum. Berries (yellow, red or orange) used for female ailments.
Scorn-the-Ground – Phoradendron sp. on Cabbage Tree (Blolly) – Guapira discolor, in George Town, Grand Cayman.
Scorn-the-Ground, Mistletoe – Phoradendron quadrangulare
Kings GC 14, 150, 365, 388?; CB 91
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p
Scorn-the-Ground, Mahogany Mistletoe – Phoradendron rubrum
Kings GC 165; LC 36, 43.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p
Scorpion Tail, Bastard Chelamella – Heliotropium angiospermum White flowers
Lewis 3856; Kings LC 41; CB 67
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p
Scorpion Tail – Heliotropium indicum Annual, blue flowers
Kings GC 275.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p
Sea Bean – Canavalia rosea
Trailing or twining vine, leaves have 3 leaflets, flowers pink or rose, fading to bluish-purple. Flowers may be used as flavouring.
Pantropical, especially sandy areas near the sea.
Kings GC 68; LC 23; CB 13
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.372.
Canavalia rosea – Useful Tropical Plants
‘The root is diuretic. It contains a bitter and purgative principle. It is steeped in vinegar and used for gargles.
An infusion of the seed is used as a purgative..
The juice from the petioles is applied to puncture wounds from thorns or other sharp objects.
A decoction of the leaves is used in the treatment of rheumatism.
A paste of the leaves is used as a treatment for boils.’
The dried leaves have been used as an entheogen, a component to some ancient rituals.
The seeds are ingested or smoked with the dried leaves as a marijuana substitute.
There is an increasing in following for its use as a marijuana substitute.
The young seeds and pods are edible when cooked. The mature seeds may be toxic.
Sea Lavender – Tournefortia gnaphalodes syn. Argusia gnaphalodes
Kings GC2 63; LC 56; CB 102.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p
Sempervivie, Sempervirens, Sinkle Bible – see Aloe Vera, Alloways, Bitter Aloes – Aloe vera
Serasee, Cerasee – Momordica charantia
Climbing vine with tendrils, yellow flowers, fruit bright orange, seeds embedded in crimson pulp.
GC 223.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.330
Soursop – Annona muricata
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.224.
Strong Back, Kidney Bush, Wild Coffee – Psychotria nervosa
Kings GC 316.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p
Tamarind – Tamarindus indica
Kings GC 81; CB 6.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.393.
Tea Banker, Mint – Pectis caymanensis
Critically Endangered mat-like herb with a woody taproot and bright yellow flowers. The leaves have a distinctive, lovely lemony scent.
Kings GC 58
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.663, Fig.255, Pl.64.
Cayman Islands Department of Environment FLICKER Bulletin No. 4, Dec. 2009, Tea Banker – Pectis caymanenisis pp.4-8:
Click here: Flicker_4 Dec 2009 Pectis
Tea Banker, Mint Pectis caymanensis (Urb.) Rydb. 1916 . Synonyms: Pectis cubensis of Hitchcock, 1893, not Griseb., 1866 Pectis cubensis var. caymanensis Urb.,1907 Family: ASTERACEAE (COMPOSITAE)
History Tea Banker was first recorded in the botanical literature of Grand Cayman in 1899 by Charles F. Millspaugh M.D. Department of Botany Curator, Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, Illinois. Millspaugh was a guest of Allison V. Armour, the Chicago meat-packing millionaire, on a West Indian cruise of the yacht ‘Utowana’; they visited the Cayman Islands during February, 1899. The chief set of Millspaugh’s specimens is in the herbarium of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Millspaugh published lists of his collection. On February 8, 1899, the ‘Utowana’ stopped at The Creek ,‘Cayman Brae’ (Cayman Brac) A Norther sprang up in the night, so they had to leave for a point further west, where they anchored. They did some more collecting and then sailed on to Little Cayman, but found no safe harbour. They reached Georgetown (sic), Grand Cayman after dark on Feb. 9. The Health Officer forbade them to land as their last port (Port Antonio, Jamaica) was reported to be infected with measles. They were, however, given permission to go ashore elsewhere as long as they kept away from any other person or dwelling. Because of the Norther, they anchored at ‘Spot Bay’ (Spotts). Tea Banker was originally called Pectis cubensis, it had been found in Cuba. Millspaugh found it on Grand Cayman on Feb.14, 1899: ‘Fine full masses of this species were found in the sand of the roadside at Spot Bay, Grand Cayman (1279), but not seen elsewhere on the island. It is called “Flat-weed,” and is used in infusion as a stomachic tonic.’ Critically Endangered Tea Banker occurs in two varieties P. caymanensis var. caymanensis, Cuba, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, near endemic, and P. caymanensis var. robusta, Grand Cayman endemic. Both are Critically Endangered.
Plantae Utowanae 1898-1899
PLANTAE UTOWANAE
The Antillean Cruise of the Yacht Utowanae
Plants collected in Bermuda, Porto Rico, St. Thomas, Culebras, Santo Domingo, Jamaica, Cuba, The Caymans, Cozumel, Yucatan and the Alacran Shoals
by Charles Frederick Millspaugh MD, Curator of Botany, Field Museum, Chicago
Dec. 1898 to March 1899
Pectis p.109
Thistle, Thorn Thistle, Poppy Thistle, Yellow Prickly Poppy – Argemone mexicana
Kings GC 129, 161.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p. 236
Thorn Apple, Jimsonweed – Datura stramonium
‘Grows as a weed everywhere. The leaves are dried in the sun and smoked as cigarettes by asthmatical subjects. Its medicinal properties have been so frequently demonstrated all over the world that it is unnecessary to enter into further description.’
Notes on the History of the Cayman Islands by George S.S. Hirst, published in 1910, reprinted in 1967, p.373.
George Stephenson Shirt Hirst was born in Sindh, India, in 1872 and died 1912, age 40. He was both Commissioner and Medical Officer of the Cayman Islands from 1907-1912. Hirst Road is named after him.’
Thorn Apple – “leaves dried and smoked by asthmatical subjects; known throughout the world.” An Adventurer’s Guide to the Cayman Islands, the Islands Time Forgot, by George I. Hudson 1967.
Tittie Molly; Coastal Spurge – Euphorbia mesembryanthemifolia syn.Chamaesyce mesembryanthemifolia
A subwoody herb or miniature shrub that grows on sandy seashores or in ironshore pockets. All parts of the plant are poisonous and can be fatal if eaten.
The white latex from a broken stem was used to remove warts.
Kings GC 23, 272; LC 93; CB 26.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.468.
Tobacco Berry, Wild Tobacco, Snake Berry – Crossopetalum rhacoma
Vervine, Worry Vine, (Blue Bush); (Porter Weed) – Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
A tea made from it is said to foam like porter.
Leaves OPPOSITE or whorled, an annual weed of open waste places & dry sandy thickets & clearings. Larval food plant of Caribbean Buckeye butterfly – Junonia genoveva & nectar flower for several butterflies.
Kings GC 121 (Water Vine), GC 290, GC 291.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.573, Fig. 213, Pl.55.
Vitex, Chaste Tree, Monk’s Pepper, Lilac Butterfly Bush – Vitex agnus-castus
native to Mediterranean Europe and Central Asia, grown horticulturally in Cayman.
The peppercorn-sized fruits and other parts of the plant are used as a herbal remedy to treat a variety of ailments.The flowers attract butterflies.
Vitex (Monk’s Pepper) peppercorn-like fruits are sold in Cayman.
‘The Vitex agnus-castus fruit, also known as chasteberry or monk’s pepper, is about the size of a peppercorn. It’s produced by the chaste tree, which acquired its name because its fruit was likely used to decrease men’s libido during the Middle Ages.’
‘Overview – Uses – Side effects – Interactions – Dosing
Vitex agnus-castus tree is a shrub that is native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia. The shrub has long, finger-shaped leaves, blue-violet flowers, and dark purple berries. The fruit and seed are used to make medicine.’
Buckeye butterflies nectaring on Vitex, Lilac Butterfly Bush, after Hurricane Ivan, 2004.
Water Hyssop, Herb of Grace – Bacopa monnieri
Leaves opposite, fleshy; stems creeping, rooting at the nodes, much branched and forming mats. Flowers pale blue, mauve or white. It grows in wet pastures, damp lawns and beside fresh or brackish pools, is widespread in both New and Old World Tropics and has many different common names around the world.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.601
Bacopa monnieri hasn’t been recorded as a medicinal plant in Cayman.
It is a known larval food plant of the White Peacock butterfly (Anartia jatrophae), but in the Cayman Islands this butterfly’s larval food plant is unknown.
Bacopa monnieri is used in Ayurvedic traditional medicine to improve memory and to treat various ailments.
Water Vine – (see Vervine)
Leaves used to induce vomiting.
Kings GC 121.
Wiry Vine –
Leaves crushed and juice taken for Malaria.
Kings GC 7.
Wormwood, Running Wormwood, Geranium – Ambrosia hispida
Kings GC 260, 319; LC 25, 26.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.647.
Yellow Root, Rhubarb Root – Morinda royoc
Kings LC 112.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor, 2012 p.628.
Harmful Plants in Cayman
LOOK, DON”T TOUCH
Licorice, John Crow Bead, Rosary Pea, Crab’s Eyes – Abrus precatorius
Lorna McCubbin in Cousin Cora’s Cottage, Boggy Sand Road, West Bay. She compiled HEALING PLANTS of the CAYMAN ISLANDS, March 15, 1995.
George R. Proctor
REFERENCES
Adams, C.D., Flowering Plants of Jamaica, (1972), University of the West Indies
Adams, C.D., The Blue Mahoe and Other Bush, (1971), McGaw-Hill
Burton, Frederic J., Threatened Plants of the Cayman Islands The Red List, (2008), Kew
Carrington, Sean, Wild Plants of Barbados (1993), McMillan Caribbean
Cayman Islands Herbarium at the National Trust for the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands National Archive
Hirst, George S.S., Notes on the History of the Cayman Islands, (1910)
Honychurch, Penelope N., Caribbean Wild Plants and their Uses, (1986), Macmillan Education Ltd
Kings, W., Report on the Botanical Collections, Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands (1938)
Levy, Jewel, Old-time bush medicine a treasured tradition, 2016, Cayman Compass
McCubbin, Lorna, Healing Plants of the Cayman Islands, (1993)
Proctor, George R., Flora of the Cayman Islands, (2012), Kew
Taylor, Walter Kingsley, Florida Wildflowersin Their Natural Communities (1998), University Press of Florida
Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info
by P. Ann van B. Stafford, August 16, 2019
Cayman Islands History
The Cayman Islands were first sighted by European explorers on 10 May, 1503, owing to a chance wind that blew Christopher Columbus’ ship off course. On his fourth trip to the New World, Columbus was en route to the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) when his ship was thrust westward toward “two very small and low islands, full of tortoises (turtles), as was all the sea all about, insomuch that they looked like little rocks, for which reason these islands were called Las Tortugas.”
The two islands were Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. A 1523 map showing all three Islands gave them the name lagartos, meaning alligators or large lizards, but by 1530 the name Caymanas was being used. It is derived from the Carib Indian word for the marine crocodile, which is now known to have lived in the Islands. This name, or a variant, has been retained ever since.
An early English visitor was Sir Francis Drake, who on his 1585-86 voyage to these waters reported seeing “great serpents called Caymanas, like large lizards, which are edible.” It was the Islands’ ample supply of turtle, however, that made them a popular calling place for ships sailing the Caribbean and in need of meat for their crews. This began a trend that eventually denuded local waters of the turtle, compelling the local turtle fishermen to go further afield to Cuba and the Miskito Cays in search of their catch.
The first recorded settlements were located on Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, during the 1661-71 tenure of Sir Thomas Modyford as Governor of Jamaica. Because of the depredations of Spanish privateers, Modyford’s successor called the settlers back to Jamaica, though by this time Spain had recognised British possession of the Islands in the 1670 Treaty of Madrid. Often in breach of the treaty, British privateers roamed the area taking their prizes, probably using the Cayman Islands for replenishing stocks of food and water and careening their vessels. During the 18th century, the Islands were certainly well known to such pirates as Edward Teach (Blackbeard), Neal Walker, George Lowther and Thomas Antis, even after the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, was supposed to have ended privateering.
The first royal grant of land in Grand Cayman was made by the Governor of Jamaica in 1734. It covered 3,000 acres in the area between Prospect and North Sound. Others followed, up to 1742, developing an existing settlement, which included the use of slaves.
On 8th February 1794, an event occurred which grew into one of Cayman’s favourite legends, The Wreck of the Ten Sail. The convoy of more than 58 merchantmen sailing from Jamaica to England found itself dangerously close to the reef at Gun Bay, on the east end of Grand Cayman. Ten of the ships, including HMS Convert, the navy vessel providing protection, foundered on the reef. With the aid of Caymanians, the crews and passengers mostly survived, although some eight lives were lost.
The court martial of the fleet’s leader, Captain Lawford, revealed that a current had unexpectedly carried the fleet 20 miles north of its course. The incident underscores how common shipwrecks have been in the history of the Islands, and how much Caymanians themselves have depended on the sea.
The first census of the Islands was taken in 1802, showing a population on Grand Cayman of 933, of whom 545 were slaves. Before slavery was abolished in 1834, there were over 950 slaves owned by 116 families. Emancipation paved the way for development of a homogeneous society.
Though Cayman was always regarded as a dependency of Jamaica, the reins of government by that colony were loosely held in the early years, and a tradition grew up of self-government, with matters of public concern decided at meetings of all free males. In 1831 a legislative assembly was established comprising two houses: the eight magistrates appointed by the Governor of Jamaica and ten elected representatives or vestrymen.
The constitutional relationship between Cayman and Jamaica remained ambiguous until 1863 when an act of the British parliament formally made the Cayman Islands a dependency of Jamaica. When Jamaica achieved independence in 1962, the Islands opted to remain under the British Crown, and an administrator (in 1971 the title became Governor) appointed from London assumed the responsibilities previously held by the governor of Jamaica.
Cayman Islanders have a tradition of hardiness and independence of spirit, which sustained them through many difficult years when their home was sometimes referred to as “the islands time forgot.” In those years, they earned a livelihood at sea, either as turtle fishermen or as crew members on foreign-owned ships, or by working in North and Central America. In 1906 more than a fifth of the population of 5,000 was estimated to be at sea, and even as late as the 1950s the government annual report said that the main “export” was seamen whose remittances were the mainstay of the economy.
Since those days the economy has grown in remarkable fashion, to be a model envied in other parts of the region. Over the last 30 years, governments have pursued policies aimed at developing the infrastructure, education, health and social services of the Islands, fostering the stability which is an important factor in the continued growth of Cayman’s two main industries, tourism and financial services.
Smith Barcadere – Smith Cove, Grand Cayman
by Ann Stafford
Historic area
People came from West Bay by boat to Smith Barcadere. They cut ‘tops’, the new, unopened leaves of the Silver Thatch Palms that were plentiful on the large estate (60 acres) of James Samuel Webster.
Silver Thatch Palm – Coccothinax proctorii, Cayman Islands endemic tree, Cayman Islands National Tree, Endangered, culturally significant.
Silver Thatch tops – the unopened fronds.
Tops were cut on the old moon, after the full moon.
Smith was shipwrecked on the Spotts reef. He was the carpenter on the ship that brought Rex Crighton’s ancestor, Alexander McKeith Crighton (1822-1892), to Grand Cayman in the 1850s.
Smith built a sea-going vessel from the salvaged timbers of the ship that wrecked and timber from trees that grew in the heavily-wooded Smith Barcadere area. It is not very far by sea from Spotts to Smith Barcadere.
The South Sound reef ends at Sand Cay. Smith Barcadere, a sandy cove where there is a break in the ironshore, is just to the north of it, with water of sufficient depth to launch a ship.
Alexander McKeith Crighton (1822-1982) was born in Glasgow, Scotland.
At the age of 19 (1841) he became chief mate, sailing on clipper ships from England to Australia. He was later transferred to the tea trade and promoted to Captain. He came to Grand Cayman (1850s) after being shipwrecked off the coast of Cuba.
Alexander Crighton was a valuable immigrant because he had a thorough knowledge of navigation, which he was pleased to impart to others. He trained and taught many Caymanian seamen and opened the first navigation school in the islands.
Many men from his school became well-known captains here, and some emigrated to the United States and became captains there.
Alexander Crighton was also a merchant and one of the first surveyors in the Cayman Islands. He married Ann Brett Coe (1832-1899), and together they had six children. They lived at Crighton Square at Spotts.
Wall of Honour book p.24
1868 James Samuel Webster, J.P. was born in Bodden Town, the son of William Bodden Webster, who became Custos (Chief Magistrate) in 1879. James married Antoinette Arabella Eden. They had five sons and one daughter. James, a successful businessman, moved his family to George Town in about 1900.
1891 Jamaica Exhibition
“gave Caymanians an opportunity of showing something of their way of life and their trade to their fellows in the Caribbean……
The exhibits included dyewoods*, mahogany and ironwood, that was as durable as metal, and the beautifully grained manchioneal. There was bulrush starch, a product peculiar to the Caymans, and a full range of baskets, hats, lines and ropes made from the dried leaves of the thatch palm. Though the turtle was pre-eminent in the Cayman section of the exhibition, Edmund Parsons, the custos, hoped that a trade could be established in sponges and sea shells.”
* Fustic (Maclura tinctoria) native, and Logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum) introduced from Central America, naturalized in Cayman.
A History of the Cayman Islands by Neville Williams, 1970
Jamaica International Exhibition 1891
The Webster House, built in 1894, was the temporary National Trust for the Cayman Islands Visitor Centre, following Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, when the Eastern Avenue / Courts Road Visitor Centre was badly damaged.
Webster House, 359 South Church St.
Life and Adventure in the West Indies
by Vaquero, 1914
Vaquero was the pseudonym of Dr Richard Keatinge, Cayman Islands Government Medical Officer for most of 1906.
He had a camera.
Chapters II and III In the Cayman Islands
1906 Photographs by Vaquero
Doctor Richard Keatinge’s house in George Town, his servant and pony.
Dr Richard Keatinge, GMO, swam at a small, sandy cove called Smith’s Barcadere, just out of sight of the road, about a mile and a half from his house in George Town.
Cottages and people at South Sound, 3 miles from George Town
Landing place at George Town, Hog Stye Bay. The large white building is the Court House.
The old Court House is now the Cayman Islands National Museum. The J. S. Webster building was on the right. It later became the Viking Gallery and then Bayshore Mall.
Webster building, left, (later the Viking Gallery, then Bayshore Mall), Goring Avenue, and the Market at Hog Stye Bay, c. 1926. Photo: N.L. Booker, in the book by his daughter, Aarona Booker Kohlman 1993: Under Tin Roofs – Cayman in the 1920s.
1916 J. S. Webster moved with his family to Kingston, Jamaica.
An incomplete record and history of the Webster Shipping Line, founded by J. S. Webster, great-grandfather of Alex Webster, in Kingston, Jamaica.
Capt. Charles Christopher Bush (1864-1942) was in partnership with J.S. Webster and in charge of what is known today as Smith Barcadere and Websters Estate.
People came by the boatload from West Bay. They cut Silver Thatch ‘tops’ (the new unopened fronds) and collected Mangoes. They used to back them down to Smith Barcadere and return to West Bay by boat. They had no money, they paid in rope.
Rope-makers were paid 25 cents for 100 fathoms of rope (600 feet)
Capt. Malcolm CARL Bush (March 9, 1903 – July 26, 2004), son of Capt. Charles Christopher Bush (1864-1942), Cayman Islands National Archive, Oral History.
Capt. Carl Bush’s house on South Church St (next to Sand Cay Apartments). Tea Banker – Pectis caymanensis, Critically Endangered little mat-like herb with a lovely, lemony smell, grew plentifully in the sand. The house, built c. 1931, has since been demolished and Tea Banker has disappeareared.
Silver Thatch Palm – Coccothrinax proctorii, Cayman endemic, Cayman Islands National Tree, and Mango tree – Mangifera indica, naturalized in Cayman, grows wild, (first introduced into Jamaica in 1782).
Catboats: unloading cargo. Cayman Islands $1.60 stamp, Aug. 31, 2011.
Thatch rope was made in 3 sizes:
Head-rope – small
Big rope – medium
Hauser – large
It was shipped to Jamaica.
West Bay rope-making lives on
West Bayer Billy Banker: b.1935
Extract:
“There were a few silver thatch palms in West Bay, [but] all that land now is subdivisions, mostly,” he said. “But you really needed a lot of those tops to make rope, which were collected on the full moon, or a few days after.
You would need a lot of land to have enough trees, so many families would take their catboats down to South Sound, or Newlands and other places and cut the tops there, where there were a lot of silver thatch palms growing.”
The cog holds the three strands together while the rope is twisted.
“We would take the rope to the store, where we would exchange it for household supplies. We never sold it for money. The stores would sell the rope on.”
Jamaica needed a lot of rope in 1945 after its fishing fleet was devastated by a hurricane in 1944, making for a huge year for Cayman rope exports which totaled 1.5 million fathoms.
Silver thatch rope, said Mr. Banker, was very good for saltwater due to its resistance to rot, but not well suited for freshwater. The ropes were used for fishing boats and sailing boats, mostly for anchors, sails and tying up.
Eventually, synthetic rope took the place of rope made of natural materials, bringing an end to Cayman’s little domestic industry.
Mr. Banker says he cannot remember any rope being made by the time he left Cayman at 19, in 1954, to go to sea as a messman.
DID YOU KNOW THAT? 58 Tidbits of Cayman’s History….
By Captain Paul Hurlston
The first sea going vessel ever built in Grand Cayman was built at Smith’s Barcadere by a carpenter who was shipwrecked on Spotts Reef. He was the carpenter on the vessel that brought Rex Crighton’s ancestors to Cayman. Tidbit 36
Dolly Well There was a well in South Sound called “Dolly Well” located in Webster’s Estate somewhere in the back of Lemuel Hurlston’s old house on Antoinette Avenue. It was round and not very deep and where all South Sounders got their water. It has since been filled in. Tidbit 13
South Sounders got their water from the Dolly Well, across the road from Smith Barcadere.
Capt. Paul Hurlston (born 1931) grew up in his family home, close by Smith Barcadere. The house, built c.1922, still stands (764 South Church St).
Looking towards Hurlston family home, where Capt. Paul Hurlston grew up.
Rough seas
March 3, 2010
Dec. 4, 2010
Jan. 23, 2016
Jan. 23, 2016
Feb. 7, 2016 Smith Barcadere ironshore
Weddings
Wedding at Smith Barcadere, Oct. 20, 2011
Plants
Rare, Critically Endangered Trichilia trees (Trichilia havanensis)
Trichilia – an attractive shrub or small tree – is almost extinct in Grand Cayman. A few survive in the George Town area, including Smith Barcadere, and Walkers Road where property owners have preserved them.
A beautiful stand of these trees grew by Burger King on Walkers Road. They were cut down and replaced with common, non-native landscaping plants. They also grew in the airport vicinity, but they too, were cut down.
They haven’t been recorded on Little Cayman or Cayman Brac. Trichilia havanensis is native to Cuba, Jamaica and continental tropical America.
Trichila very rarely flowers and fruits, so propagation by seed hardly happens.
Their main means of reproduction is by root runners, such as at Smith Barcadere, where it is hoped that they will be preserved in their natural habitat for future generations.
Trichilia trees have a distinctive bark.
Trichilia havanensis is protected under Schedule 1 Part 2 of the Cayman Islands National Conservation Law.
Trichilia trees, Critically Endangered, original growth on Smith Barcadere beach ridge.
National-Trust-Position-on-Smith-Cove-development
October 5, 2016 National Trust for the Cayman Islands Statement on the proposed development of the north side of Smith Barcadere (also known as Smith Cove)
Extract:
There is a rare plant on the Smith Cove site (Trichilia havanensis), almost extinct on Grand Cayman and considered critically endangered, growing on the wooded section of the lot that is slated for development. This plant is protected under Schedule 1 Part 2 of the National Conservation Law. It is common elsewhere in the Caribbean and was probably once quite common in the area south of George Town between Walkers Road and South Church.
Trichilia trees (original growth), conserved, form a hedge for a private property on Walkers Road.
Silver Thatch Palm – Coccothrinax proctorii Cayman Islands National Tree
Cayman Islands endemic, Endangered
Silver Thatch: Cayman’s Verdant Trees So Fair
Only the newest unopened leaves (“tops”) could be used for making rope.
Extract: Thatching was not always restricted to roofs. Before the days of electricity, kitchens and cookrooms were often separate constructions, to reduce the risk of fire. Some had thatched walls, which created a cool cooking area. With the availability of corrugated zinc roofing in the 1920’s, thatched roofs and thatching skills have now become rare.
Silver Thatch Palm leaves were also used to weave hats, baskets and fans. Shoes known as “wompers” were made with a flat leather sole and held on the foot by straps -like a thong – of thatch rope. Nowadays, hats and baskets are in demand in tourist and craft shops. Many of them are still made by those who were taught their skills over fifty years ago!
Items made from Silver Thatch Palm lasted far longer than similar products made using other materials available at the time. The tree’s real value, however, lies in the ability of its dried leaf to resist the effects of salt water.
This proved particularly important in the rope-making industry. Cayman had relatively few natural resources that could generate income, but the thatch rope was highly prized in Cuba and Jamaica for use in the shipping, fishing and sugar industries. While the men were away at sea, or busy with their farms, the women and children would make rope.
Sea Grape – Coccoloba uvifera (Critically Endangered) and Broadleaf – Cordia sebestena var. caymanensis (Cayman Islands endemic variety) (Vulnerable) at Smith Barcadere. Both are culturally significant native trees.
Broadleaf – Cordia sebestena var. caymanensis. Cayman Islands endemic shrub or small tree, with rough, Alternate leaves that were traditionally used to polish turtle shells. Versatile Broadleaf grows in varied habitats.
Cordia sebestena called Geiger Tree (US) or Red Cordia, is widely distributed in coastal thickets in Florida, the West Indies and the eastern coasts of continental tropical America. It is used in landscaping.
Cordia sebestena – Geiger Tree, Florida
Sea Grape – Coccoloba uvifera (Critically Endangered) and Popnut – Thespesia populnea (Endangered) native trees, both culturally significant.
Sea Grape – the large round leaves were used as plates.
Popnut trees were used in boat-building. The trunks and branches often grew already curved.
Popnut / Plopnut, (Seaside Mahoe in Jamaica, Portia Tree in USA) – Thespesia populnea, belongs to the same plant family as Hibiscus. Popnut, an extremely salt-tolerant, fast-growing, pan-tropical tree, has heart-shaped leaves and pretty pale yellow flowers with maroon centres. The whole flower turns maroon later in the day before dying. Popnut was used in Catboat construction in the Cayman Islands, where it is Endangered.
Cat Claw – Volkameria aculeata synonym Clerodendron aculeatum, a shrub with showy little white flowers.
Cat Claw was cut down, but has started growing back, Feb. 14, 2020.
Ironshore plants grow in a harsh, rocky habitat
Stunted Buttonwood – Conocarpus erectus and Bay Candlewood, Seaside Oxeye – Borrichia arborescens
Juniper, Sandfly Bush – Rhachicallis americana, a little shrub with bright yellow flowers, and Sea Grape – Coccolba uvifera, and Buttonwood – Conocarpus erectus, both stunted, due to the harsh environment of the ironshore, with waves crashing over them when the sea is rough.
Creatures
St. Andrew’s Cotton Stainer (Love-bugs) – Dysdercus andreae, on Popnut / Plopnut, (Portia Tree, Seaside Mahoe) – Thespesia populnea.
Saint Andrew’s Cotton Stainer: Damaging Pest or Colorful Curiosity?
by William M. Ciesla
St. Andrew’s Cotton Stainer – Dysdercus andreae on Wild Cotton, Short-staple Cotton – Gossypium hirsutum (which doesn’t grow at Smith Barcadere).
From 1780s cotton was grow in Grand Cayman. 1802 Thirty tons of cotton per year were exported from Cayman, but cotton had peaked by 1810.
Memorial
James Samuel and Antoinette Arabella (née Eden) Webster
(1868-1954) (1866-1939)
James Samuel Webster was the great-grandson of John Webster who was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1777. He arrived in Grand Cayman (Bodden Town) in 1803 and married Elizabeth Bodden, daughter of William ‘Governor’ Bodden II. John died on Jan. 18, 1805, age 28. John and Elizabeth had two sons, William Smith Webster and John Michael Webster.
Inscription: In Memory of James Samuel Webster and his wife Antoinette Arabella (née Eden). This bathing cove, formerly called Smith’s Barcadier, is dedicated by their son William Burnett Webster and their grandsons, James George Eden McMurray and David McMurray to the people of Georgetown and the stranger in their midst.
James Samuel Webster (1868-1954)
Antoinette Arabella Eden Webster (1866-1939)
William Burnett Webster (1909-1992)
(James George Eden McMurray) William George Eden McMurray (1939-1999)
David McMurray aka Jerry Webster (1941-1987)
[William Burnett Webster, George McMurray and Jerry Webster were the Registered Owners of the Webster Estates private roads, Antoinette Avenue and Websters Drive.]
Webster Memorial Sea Grape and Popnut trees in the background.
Smith’s Cove Memorials
South Sound photos
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.
South Sound began at Old Crewe Road and ended by Capt. Denham Thompson property, now Pure Art.
Stepwells and old stonewalls, turtle nests and shipwrecks, mangroves and dyke roads, Sand Cay and Pull-and-Be-Damned Point, Grand Old House and Miss Lassie’s House, Smith Barcadere (aka The Cove), the J. S. Webster Estate, Silver Thatch and rope-making, English Point and Portuguese Point, Rugby, Tennis and Squash Clubs, butterflies and bugs, Whistling Ducks and Hickatees, herons and egrets, schools and churches, Valentine’s Mile and Fun Runs …
South Sound area
The old South Sound to George Town footpath (a 6ft. Right Of Way that no longer exists), was edged with native Birch trees (Bursera simaruba), naturalized Mango trees and barbed wire, before Walkers Road was built.
Birch Tree Gate location, on the old South Sound to George Town footpath, at the junction of Hinds Way, Academy Way and Aspiration Drive.
Walkers Road and Smith Road were named after the engineers who built them.
Media links
Emotions run high as government unveils its concept for a redeveloped Smith Barcadere to the public.
Cayman 27 TV News July 12, 2018
Emotions run high as government unveils its concept for a redeveloped Smith Barcadere to the public.
George Town South MLA Barbara Connolly and other officials introduced the nuts and bolts of the plan Tuesday night at a well attended public meeting.
Those in attendance provided no shortage of feedback for their consideration once the floor was turned over to public comment.
“There’s nothing here carved in stone, this is just a concept,” said A.L. Thompson, who chaired the two and a half hour meeting.
The public got its first look at government’s planned redevelopment of Smith Barcadere. …
Community meets to discuss development of Smith Cove
Cayman Compass July 8, 2018
A passionate crowd showed up at the South Sound Community Centre Tuesday night for a meeting about the redevelopment of Smith Cove, also known as Smith Barcadere.
George Town South MLA Barbara Conolly was on hand to share the plans for a refurbished beach site, and the community turned out en masse to provide its feedback….
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to:
Tricia Bodden, Cayman Islands National Archive.
Capt. Paul Hurlston (b. 1931) for his wealth of knowledge, grandson of Capt. Charles Christopher Bush (1864-1942) and nephew of Capt. Malcolm Carl Bush (1903-2004). Capt. Paul grew up next to Smith Barcadere.
References
Life and Adventure in the West Indies (Cayman Islands in 1906), by Vaquero 1914
Notes on the History of the Cayman Islands by George S.S. Hirst, 1910
A History of the Cayman Islands by Neville Williams, 1970
Capt. Malcolm Carl Bush, Oral History, Cayman Islands Native Archive, 1990
Under Tin Roofs – Cayman in the 1920s by Aarona Booker Kohlman, 1993
Wild Trees in the Cayman Islands by Frederick Burton, 1997, 2007
Flora of the Cayman Islands by George R. Proctor, 2012
Founded Upon the Seas – A History of the Cayman Islands and Their People by Michael Craton and the New History Committee, 2003
Wall of Honour, The book, Quincentennial Celebrations Office, 2003
Find A Grave
South Sound Community Cemetery
Note:
When doing the research, I have come across some inconsistencies in facts, names or dates.
Ironwood, Candlewood and Other Cayman Bush
Uses of some Plants that grow in the Cayman Islands
by P. Ann van B. Stafford, January 2018
Ethnobotany is the study of a region’s plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people.
Ironwood – Chionanthus caymanensis, Endangered Cayman Islands endemic
Ironwood flowers
Ironwood tree with Old George (Wittmackia caymanensis = Hohenbergia caymanensis), a giant Bromeliad, in its branches, and Silver Thatch palm – three Cayman endemic plants, and Naseberry (Sapodilla) Manilkara zapota naturalized, in a George Town garden.
Introduction
The CAYMAN ISLANDS were discovered by Columbus over 500 years ago. Permanent settlement came later. Indigenous 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. We don’t have large wild animals, but we do have an interesting diversity of wildlife, for which plants provide food and shelter. Native plants and animals are interdependent, and are part of intricate food webs.
Definitions
Cayman Native (Indigenous) Species
A Cayman Islands native species is one that occurs naturally in the Cayman Islands without direct or indirect human actions. Some plants and animals are native to only one or two of the three Cayman Islands. 415 taxa (species and varieties) formed the original, ancient flora of Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.
Cayman Endemic Species
An Cayman Islands endemic species is one that originated or evolved in a particular place, and that situation won’t change in the future. The Cayman Islands have 28 endemic taxa (species and varieties) of plant and 5 endemic subspecies of butterfly.
Cayman 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. Several trees around the world are called Ironwood, but Cayman’s culturally important Ironwood trees are only found in the Cayman Islands – Chionanthus caymanensis . Scientific names avoid confusion of which plant is being referred to. Even though there are many plants, many don’t have Cayman common names – especially if they didn’t have a use. Some common names reflect how the plants were encountered.
Cayman common name / other common name(s)
Candlewood / Torchwood – Amyris elemifera Endangered
CaymANNature Flora photo album
CaymANNature Flora_2 photoalbum
Cayman Herbarium images album
1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands photo album
Glossary
Dioecious – plant with separate male and female flowers on different plants
Monoecious – plant with separate male and female flowers on the same plant
Polygamous – plant bearing perfect and unisexual flowers on the same plant
Kings – the island and plant collection number (GC Grand Cayman, LC Little Cayman, CB Cayman Brac) of Wilfred Kings, botanist on the 1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands
Cultural and ecological uses
some plants may be in more than one category
- Boatbuilding
- Construction
- Export
- General Utility
- Healing
- Look, Don’t Touch
- Other Cayman Plants
Boatbuilding
Schooners
1938 King George VI 5/- (Five shilling) Cayman Schooner stamp
The Western Union, a schooner launched by Heber Elroy Arch in Key West in 1939, is undergoing a US$900,000 overhaul that will allow it to remain seaworthy for another decade or two. The ship, built and designed by a Caymanian, originally featured Cayman mahogany to round out its frame.
Cayman designed schooner Aug. 1, 2017
Shipbuilder Heber Arch was one of 11 children of James Arch. The family worked together in crafting boats that would traverse the Atlantic.
Catboats
Cayman Islands Catboat stamps First Day Cover Aug. 31, 2011
Cayman Catboats at the Cayman Catboat Club, Aug. 2, 2014
Tools used for making Catboats
Bitter Plum – Picrodendron baccatum Endangered
Flowers dioecious, without petals. The wood is very hard.
Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and the Swan Islands.
Kings GC 131, LC 77.
Bitter Plum tree in George Town by the Hospital crossroads
Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Swan Islands.
Bitter Plum has a compound leaf with 3 distinctively-shaped leaflets.
Cedar, West Indian Cedar – Cedrela odorata Critically Endangered
West Indian Cedar is related to Mahogany, and should not be confused with the evergreen conifer Cedars of the genus Cedrus, such as the magnificent spreading Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani).
Cedar tree in George Town, April 1, 2004
Cedar, West Indian Cedar – Cedrela odorata, mature woody capsule fruits and wind-dispersed winged seeds
Fiddlewood – Petitia domingensis, Family: VERBENACEAE (LAMIACEAE), Endangered. OPPOSITE leaves. Birds love to eat the fruits, particularly Mockingbirds and White-crowned Pigeons. The wood is heavy and very hard and was used for making fence posts and in shipbuilding. Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor 2012 p.584, Plate 56.
Fiddlewood – Petitia domingensis
Mahogany – Swietenia mahagoni
Mastic, Yellow Mastic – Sideroxylon foetidissimum Critically Endangered
Mastic, one of Cayman’s largest native trees, is the English common name used within its range – Central America, the West Indies (Mastic Ironwood, Mastic-bully – Bahamas) and US (southern Florida – False Mastic, Wild Mastic, Jungle Plum). It is very unusual for the Cayman common name to be the same as that in other countries, particularly the US. Mastic was used for boat-building, construction and furniture. The wood is hard, heavy, strong and durable. The heartwood is bright orange, surrounded by a yellowish band of sapwood.
The buttressed trunk of the mighty Mastic tree, afterwhich the Mastic Trail is named
Pepper Cinnamon – Canella winterana
Pompero – Hypelate trifoliata Endangered
Pompero is an extremely slow-growing shrub or small tree and has a short, thick trunk with low, wide-spreading branches.
It has a compound leaf with 3 distinctive leaflets, and small white flowers.
The wood very hard, heavy, close-grained, a rich dark brown and a hard timber to work. It was used for posts, shipbuilding – ribs, mostly in large vessels, and Catboat keel and keelson and tool handles.
Pompero has other names: Plumperra and Wild Cherry. It is called White Ironwood in the US.
Pompero is sometimes infected with Witches’ Broom fungus in Cayman – Moniliophthora perniciosa (= Crinipellis perniciosa).
Popnut, Plopnut – Thespesia populnea
Sea Grape – Coccoloba uvifera Critically Endangered
Spanish Elm – Cordia gerascanthus
Construction
Candlewood / Torchwood – Amyris elemifera Endangered
Cabbage Tree – Guapira discolor
Cabbage Tree / Blolly, Beefwood – Guapira discolor
Blolly, Beeftree – Guapira discolor
Cherry – Myrcianthes fragrans, Endangered
Cherry / Twinberry, Simpson’s Stopper – Myrcianthes fragrans, attractive, pinkish bark, opposite leaves, strongly aromatic when crushed. Cherry was used for wattles.
Myrcianthes fragans – Twinberry, Simpson’s Stopper
Ironwood – Chionanthus caymanensis, Endangered Cayman Islands endemic, Family: OLEACEAE, leaves arranged in exactly Opposite pairs. The heavy wood is very hard, strong, termite and water-rot resistant, not inclined to warp. It was traditionally used for the foundation posts of houses. It grows only on Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac and nowhere else in the world, in rocky woodlands, close to a fresh water table.
Ironwood flowers
Ironwood posts, Cousin Cora’s Cottage, Boggy Sand Road, West Bay.
Mastic, Yellow Mastic – Sideroxylon foetidissimum Critically Endangered
Mastic leaves have a long stalk and a minute inrolled pocket at the base of blade on upper side. The small, strongly scented flowers are yellowish.
Mastic fruit, a yellow drupe, has a large single seed covered with a thin, fleshy pulp.
Sea Grape – Coccoloba uvifera, Critically Endangered
Silver Thatch – Coccothrinax proctorii, Endangered Cayman Islands endemic
Silver Thatch trees growing on Pedro St James bluff. They grow extremely slowing, about one inch per year. The underside of the fronds are silvery.
Spanish Elm – Cordia gerascanthus, Family: BORAGINACEAE, Endangered.
In the Cayman Islands, Spanish Elm was used in general construction and for making oars.
Greater Antilles, Mexico, Central America and Columbia.
Strawberry, (White Stopper – US) – Eugenia axillaris
Shrub or small tree with aromatic leaves, difficult to distinguish from Bastard Strawberry, (Pale Lidflower – US) – Calyptranthes pallens Endangered, except when flowering or fruiting. Strawberry wood was used to make wattles for traditional Cayman Wattle and Daub houses, and for fish pots. It also makes a good walking stick.
Florida, West Indies, Mexico and northern Central America in sandy or rocky thickets and woodlands.
Kings GC 285
Strawberry fruits, black when ripe, are edible, but not particularly paletable.
Wattle and Daub construction, Cayman Catboat Club
Export
Coconut Palm – Cocos nucifera.
There was a thriving Coconut industry on the Sister Islands – Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The coconuts were husked before being exported. The trees succumbed to a disease – lethal yellowing.
Cotton, Wild Cotton, Short-staple Cotton – Gossypium hirsutum var. punctatum
Cotton was exported from 1780s. It was the most valuable cargo between 1802 and 1804. All of the cotton plantations were in south central Grand Cayman, averaging about 100 acres.
Cayman’s cotton industry declined after 1810.
Wild Cotton, Short-staple Cotton – Gossypium hirsutum
Fustic – Maclura tinctoria (dye wood), Critically Endangered, Family: MORACEAE
Fustic wood is tough and close-grained. It was exported from mid-1700’s to early 1800’s for khaki or fustic, a yellowish dye extracted from the wood, which was used for dyeing cloth for military uniforms and schoolboys clothing. It grows in Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, the West Indies and continental tropical America.
Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor 2012 p.241, Fig.84.
Kings GC 408
Fustic is DIOECIOUS – male and female flowers grow on separate trees, fruits form from female (pistillate) flowers only.
Logwood – Haematoxylum campechianum (dye wood), introduced from Central America. Logwood is a small, thorny tree with a deeply fluted trunk and wide spreading branches. It grows fast and aggressively colonizes in low-lying damp ground, that is not too salty. The wood is hard, heavy and slow to rot and is still used for fence posts.
Bees make honey from Logwood flowers. Logwood, native to Central America, is naturalized in the West Indies, where it was introduced early in the 18th. century as an export for its bluish-black dye from the red heartwood. It was a source of dye formerly used for textiles and which is still highly valued as a bacteriological and cytological stain.
Logwood is invasive in Cayman
Mahogany – Swietenia mahagoni, Endangered. 1730s – 1740s The first formal land grants were made in Cayman, mainly to cut Mahogany. Mahogany furniture had become popular in Britain and Europe and Mahogany surpassed turtle as Cayman’s most valuable product.
The same huge Mahogany tree in East End, before and after Hurricane Ivan (Sept. 2004)
Red Mangrove – Rhizoraphora mangle Near Threatened
Red Mangrove trees contains tannins and were barked from the early 1900s to 1930s in Cayman. This was shipped to Jamaica and thence to Europe for tanning leather. The barked trees died afterwards.
Red Mangrove flowers – 4 white petals, 4 yellow sepals
Red Mangrove propagules – elongated torpedo-like seedlings that develop from brown, oval fruits while they are still attached to the tree.
Satinwood, Yellow Sanders – Zanthoxylum flavum Critically Endangered
Dioecious or polygamous (bearing perfect or inisexual flowers on the same plant) tree, Florida, Bermuda, West Indies, extremely rare on all three Cayman Islands. Satinwood was highly prized for its yellow, satiny lustre that took a high polish and was used in cabinetry and furniture.
The compound leaves have pellucid dots with oil glands.
Satinwood is a larval food plant of the endemic Grand Cayman Swallowtail butterfly – Papilio andraemon tailori (two caterpillars in the photo).
Satinwood – Zanthoxylum flavum
‘The tree has an excellent, ornamental timber that was highly desired for inlay, fine furniture etc. It was so heavily exploited that large trees are now almost unheard of.’
Silver Thatch – Coccothrinax proctorii (rope), Endangered Cayman Islands endemic
Cayman Islands National Tree
Rope made from the ‘tops’ Silver Thatch palm was exported to Jamaica.
General Utility
Banana Orchid – Mymecophila thomsoniana
Cayman Islands National Flower
Calabash (or Gourd) tree – Crescentia cujete, Family: BIGNONIACEAE. The sprawling tree bears large green fruits, gourds (up to 25 cm in diameter) – the woody outer shells were traditionally used to make water containers, soup bowls, plates and for bailing boats. Florida, West Indies and continental tropical America.
Calabash, Gourd tree, has trumpet-shaped flowers that sprout directly from the branches and trunk and are pollinated by Buffy Flower bats.
Cedar, West Indian Cedar – Cedrela odorata Critically Endangered
Cedar has large, compound leaves (similar to Maiden Plum) and aromatic, reddish wood, soft but durable, resistant to attack by insects. In addition to boat-building, Cedar was used for cigar boxes, musical instruments, light construction, veneer and plywood.
Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, West Indies and continental tropical America.
Kings GC 337
Cedar tree growing through a fence in George Town.
Cedrela odorata: Useful Tropical Plants
Coconut Palm – Cocos nucifera
Coconut Palm trees by the Lake at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park
Corato, Cordo, Corto – Agave caymanensis* Vulnerable Cayman Islands endemic to the three Cayman Islands
Corato grows in dry shrubland, especially at the drier eastern ends of each island. Corato is a large, fleshy, rosette plant with massive, succulent, spine-tipped leaves. It develops a woody trunk at maturity. The flowers are yellow, and small vegetative bulbils, miniature plants, are produced on the inflorescence after flowering.
Like all Agaves, it is monocarpic, flowers only once in its lifetime and dies afterwards.
Corato leaves were dried and used for scrubbing floors. People didn’t have soap powder. The leaves were cut and pounded, to make them soft. Ashes and water were poured on them to make LYE water for doing laundry.
Guava – Psidium guajava
Shrub or small tree, naturalized in Cayman, has 4-angled branchlets and leaves with numerous pellucid dots. The fruit is a pinkish or yellowish edible berry with numerous small seeds. Gigs (spinning tops) were made from Guava wood.
Guava grows in the American tropics; it is grown for its edible fruits and becomes naturalized.
Kings 385
Gigs (spinning tops) made from Mahogany and Guava wood
Mastic, Yellow Mastic – Sideroxylon foetidissimum Critically Endangered
Mastic was used for boat-building, construction and furniture
Mastic tree, flowering, at Health City, Grand Cayman, May 17, 2019
Naseberry, Sapodilla – Manilkara zapota
Kings GC 347
Sapodilla, Naseberry – Manilkara zapota – Useful Tropical Plants
Silver Thatch – Coccothrinax proctorii (rope), Endangered Cayman Islands endemic
Sisal, Sisal Hemp – Agave sisalana – introduced, naturalized, invasive
Dark brown, very sharp pointed spine at the tips of the leaves. Edgar Samuel McCoy (born in 1851) was a pioneer of the Sisal industry in Grand Cayman.
1910 Hirst’s Notes on the History of the Cayman Islands: Many acres have been laid out in Agave sisalana and many more will be laid out shortly …… Sisal bears after 3 years, whereas coconut bears after at least 6 years. The Sisal plant is unaffected by drought or hurricanes, while the coconut is seriously affected by both.
Sisal tends to persist after cultivation.
Slingshot, Wild Jasmine – Tabernaemontana laurifolia Endangered
White latex
Dry rocky thickets and woodlands
Grand Cayman and Jamaica only
Smoke Wood – two species grow in Cayman, one is common, the other is rarer. They have similar leaves, white flowers and red fruits (a drupe). Smoke Wood was one of the woods burnt in smoke pots, cans filled with smouldering wood to ward off mosquitoes, an introduced menace. There was no mention of mosquitoes in early records. None of the three species of Erythroxylum in Cayman contains cocaine, which is obtained from the leaves of Erythroxylum coca that grows in the Andean region of South America.
Smoke Wood – Erythroxylum areolatum
Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Greater Antilles, Mexico, and northern Central America, in rocky woodlands.
Kings GC 204a, GC 333
The wood is hard, heavy, fine-textured and very durable. It was used for fence posts.
Two faint parallel lines can be seen on either side of the main vein on the underside of the leaf. A beetle pollinates the white flowers.
Smoke Wood fruits of both species are bright red when ripe.
Smoke Wood – Erythroxylum confusum Critically Endangered
grows in seasonally flooded sinkholes.
Grand Cayman, Bahamas, Cuba and Jamaica.
Smoke Wood (Erythroxylum confusum) with Resurrection Fern (Polypodium polypodioides) growing on the corky-looking bark of its trunk at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park on the Woodland Trail.
Resurrection Fern fronds curl up in dry weather and look dead, but open up and become green after rain.
Kings F 32, F 32-a, F 36, F 45
Strawberry (White Stopper – US) – Eugenia axillaris
Calavans (traps) were made from trees with straight, durable limbs such as Strawberry, Cabbage or Shamrock. The new, young leaves of Strawberry are pinkish-red.
Calavan (trap) made by Deal Ebanks
Wash Wood – Jacquinia keyensis Endangered
Wash Wood (called Joewood in the US), extremely slow-growing and salt-tolerant, was used to wash clothes. The bark was scraped off, the trunk chopped – tapped, and a container used to collect the beige sap. The sap was mixed with lye water – well-water which had been mixed with ashes, allowed to stand & strained off.
Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Florida, the Bahamas, Cuba, and Jamaica, in coastal scrub-lands and thickets.
Kings GC 172
Wash Wood habitat, North Sound, West Bay
Cayman Cultural Trees – Stamps
Wash Wood – Jacquinia keyensis 15 cent stamp, release date Feb. 23, 2006
Wash Wood, Proctor’s Jacquinia – Jacquinia proctorii Critically Endangered
Cayman Islands and Jamaica
Kings GC 334
Wild Cinnamon – Croton nitens Endangered
Aromatic leaves, minutely pellucid dotted, (not to be confused with Pepper Cinnamon – Canella winterana, which also has aromatic leaves).
Dry rocky woodlands
Jamaica, Swan Islands, Mexico and Central America
Flowers, fruits and bright orange dying leaf
Wild Cinnamon wood used for making fish-pot frames, the wood sinks and is durable in salt water.
Healing
The information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be an endorsement of any of the old-time remedies. Some parts of a plant, ripe or unripe, may heal, while other parts of the same plant may be poisonous. There may be a fine line between kill and cure.
decoction – boiled; the liquor resulting from concentrating the essence of a substance by heating or boiling, especially a medicinal preparation made from a plant.
infusion – steeped; a drink, remedy, or extract prepared by soaking the leaves of a plant or herb in liquid.
Medicinal Plants and Cultural Uses photo album
Aunt Eliza Bush, (Twining Soldierbush) – Myriopus volubilis = Tournefortia volubilis
Kings GC140, LC 12
Aloe Vera “Sempervivie”, ‘Alloways” – Aloe vera
Basil “Tea Basil” , Pimento Basil, (Least Basil) – Ocimum campechianum = O. micranthum
Kings GC 213; LC 6.
Basil “Sweet” – Ocimim basilicum
Birch – Bursera simaruba
Broadleaf – Cordia sebestena var. caymanensis
Castor Oil Plant, Castor Bean – Ricinus communis. Family: EUPHORBIACEAE.
A wide-branching shrub 2-5 m tall, with watery sap and ALTERNATE leaves, native to Africa. It is monoecious: separate female (upper) and male (lower) flowers are borne on the same plant. The fruit, a capsule, is usually spiny and the seeds mottled. The seeds and leaves have been used since ancient times as a purgative and emollient. It was one of the most popular and revered plants in Cayman. Habitat: old fields, roadsides, open waste ground, gardens.
Warning: the seeds contain the highly POISONOUS phytotoxin RICIN and can be fatal if swallowed. Heat inactivates ricin (a protein).
Castor Oil Plant, Castor Bean – Ricinus communis
Castor Oil Plant – Ricinus communis
Cochineal, “Scotchineal” – Nopalea cochenillifera (syn. Opuntia cochenillifera)
A cactus naturalized in Cayman, edible fruits.
Kings GC 340; CB 33.
Coconut – Cocos nucifera
Kings CB 52, CB 53
Coconut Palm on South Sound beach, looking across to Prospet Point, an area of early settlement.
Cowitch – Mucuna pruriens
A herbaceous vine that grows over other vegetation.
The distinctive compound leaf has 3 leaflets, the mid-veins of the 2 side leaflets are off-center.
Flowers are a dull dark purple. The velvety-brown seed pods are covered with stinging hairs which cause intense itching. They cannot be washed off. Naturalized in Cayman, pantropical
Applying flour to the affected area relieves the itching.
Cow-itch – Bush Medicine – Cayman Islands National Museum
The hairs of the pods were used to get rid of intestinal worms. This remedy was dreaded by Cayman children. “We were dosed with this thing made by scraping the pods on the cow-itch plants. That was mixed with green banana which had been boiled in milk with some sugar in it. We would have to eat the wretched thing.”
Kings GC 228
Dandelion – Senna occidentalis
Dandelion, Coffee Senna, Stinking Bush, Septic Weed – Senna occidentalis (syn. Cassia occidentalis), Family: FABACEAE (LEGUMINOSAE, subfamily: CAESALPINIOIDAE).
An erect shrubby annual herb, to about 1 m tall, often subwoody near the base.
Compound leaves that have an unpleasant odour when crushed, flowers yellow, pods oblong-linear, slightly curved. The dried root was used for loss of apetite. The roasted and pulverized brown seeds were used as a substitute for coffee. It is the larval food plant of the Cloudless Sulphur butterfly – Phoebis sennae.
Kings GC 220
Dandelion – Senna occidentalis
Dashalong – Turnera ulmifolia, Family: TURNERACEAE.
Dashalong leaves were boiled to make a tonic tea, for liver and kidney trouble and for coughs and colds. It is the larval food plant of the Mexican Fritillary butterfly (Euptoieta hegesia).
Dogwood, Jamaica Dogwood, Fishfuddle Tree, Fish Poison Tree – Piscidia piscipula, Family: FABACEAE, Endangered. Leaves Alternate, compound, odd-pinnate. Pink flowers in panicles, pod greenish-yellow, straw-coloured at maturity, with papery wings.
The bark, especially of the roots, is well-known for its narcotic and poisonous properties. It has been used to relieve toothache and for curing mange in DOGS. If the bark and leaves are crushed and thrown into water, most nearby fish will become stupified and will float on the surface. The fruit has been used in South America for arrow poison.
Dogwood – Piscidia piscipula Note: Care must be taken with the use of this plant. Cayman Islands National Archive Oral History: A tea made from bark and leaves was ‘just nice”. Sap will draw a prickle from a finger.
Jamaica Dogwood, Florida Fishpoison tree – Piscidia piscipula
Eucalyptus – Eucalyptus globulus, Family: MYRTACEAE. used as a balsamic, a hypoglycaemic and an antiseptic. The terpenoid volatile oil, cineol, is an expectorant and has a stimulating effect. Used as an inhalant.
Leaves of Eucalyptus “were made into a tea and the leaves were steeped in the bath and that was used to bathe you and steam you, for bad cold or pneumonia”. Eucalyptus oil is one of the active ingredients of Vicks VapoRub.
The bark was burned to ward off mosquitotes.
Eucalyptus, Blue Gum – Eucalyptus globulus, KEW
Eucalyptus – Eucalyptus globulus, Shedden Road, opposite the Eucalyptus Building. The tree pictured above has been misidentified and is probably the Paperbark tree – Melaleuca quinquenervia, in the same family: MRYTACEAE.
A tree of another name is still as sweet
Fever Grass – Cymbopogon citratus
Headache Bush – Quadrella cynophallophora syn. Capparis cynophallophora
Headache Bush leaves were chopped, crushed, put in a bottle and used as smelling salts for headaches. Crushed leaves were applied externally for toothache.
Kings GC 142
Headache Bush is a larval food plant of the Great Southern White butterfly – Ascia monuste.
Heart Plant – Ruellia tuberosa
Juniper, Jennifer (Bay Cedar – US) – Suriana maritima
An attractive bushy pantropical seashore shrub. In Cayman, the bark was rubbed off to make a poultice to deaden the pain of toothache.
Kings GC 22, LC 85, CB 57
Juniper, Jennifer (Bay Cedar) is a larval food plant of the Cuban Grey Hairstreak (Strymon martialis) and Drury’s Hairstreak (S. istapa) butterflies and a nectar plant for several butterflies.
Bay Cedar – Suriana maritima – Natives for Your Neigh(borhood
Lavender, Sea Lavender – Tournefortia gnaphalodes (syn. Argusia gnaphalodes) Family: BORAGINACEAE. Dense, mound-like shrub, narrow leaves ALTERNATE, fleshy, velvety, silvery-grey. The fragrant white flowers attract butterflies. Seacoasts and saline shores, particularly sandy beaches. Bermuda, Florida, West Indies, and coasts of Yucatan, Cozumel, Belize and Venezuela. Photo: Ann Stafford, Pedro bluff, Grand Cayman, Feb.16, 2014. FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS by George R. Proctor 2012 p.559, Fig.208, Pl.52.
In Cayman, a tea was made from boiled leaves for stomach problems and nerves
Sea Lavender – Tournefortia gnaphalodes (syn. Argusia gnaphalodes)
Sea Lavender – Tournefortia gnaphalodes
Leaf-of-Life, Curiosity Plant, (Cathedral Bells) – Kalanchoe pinnata (syn. Bryophyllum pinnatum), Family: CRASSULACEAE. Succulent perennial herb to 1m tall, leaves have scalloped edges, native to Madagascar, naturalized throughout the tropics.
In Cayman, the leaves were used to treat coughs, colds and sore throats, and to bathe swellings, sprains and bruises. It is called Leaf-of-Life, because when leaves fall on the ground, new plants sprout from the scalloped edges and take root.
Leaf-of-Life, Curiosity Plant – Kalanchoe pinnata
Lime – Citrus X aurantifolia
Liquorice, Wild, “John Crow Bean” – Abrus precatorius
Mulberry / Noni – Morinda citrifolia
Mulberry, Hog Apple, Noni, Duppy Soursop; Indian Mulberry – Morinda citrifolia is a shrub or small tree, naturalized in Cayman, leaves Opposite, flowers white. Fruit a fleshy, compound berry (synocarp), irregular shape, creamy-translucent when ripe, with a foetid odour. Native to tropical Asia and Australia, naturalized in the American tropics.
Mulberry / Noni leaves were used as a poultice for wounds to relieve pain, and as a treatment for rheumatic joints, fevers and headaches.
Kings LC 112.
Old Lady Coat Tail – Priva lappulacea
Naseberry, Sapodilla – Manilkara sapota
Pepper Cinnamon – Canella winterana CANELLACEEAE Canella Family
Critically endangered. Florida and the West Indies south to Barbados
Canella bark was used as an aromatic stimulant and tonic. In the 1700s, the inner bark was exported from the West Indies to Europe as a substitute for cinnamon. The outer bark is toxic.
The wood was used for Catboat sculls (oars).
Flora of the Cayman Islands by George R. Proctor, 2012 p.225, Fig.77, Plate 10.
The tree provides food and cover for wildlife.
Pepper Cinnamon – Canella winterana
Periwinkle – Catharanthus roseus
Pomegranate – Punica granatum
Providence Mint – Lippia alba
Rhubarb Root – Morinda royoc
Rosemary – Croton linearis
Note: The Cayman shrub, Rosemary, should not be confused with culinary woody, perennial herb, Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), native to the Mediterranean region, or the variegated leaf landscaping shrub, Croton (Codiaeum variegatum).
A dioecious, pleasantly aromatic shrub, Rosemary (Pineland Croton or Granny-Bush – US) is a multipurpose plant. The leaves were steeped to make tea for striction, as a tonic, boiled to make a tea for diabetes or smoked as tobacco to relieve asthma.
Rosemary brooms were made to sweep the interior of the house.
Rosemary is the larval food plant of the Cuban Red Leaf butterfly – Anaea troglodyta and Drury’s Hairstreak butterfly – Strymon acis and is a butterfly nectar plant.
Sage, Black – Cordia globosa var. humilis
Sage, White – Lantana camara
Scorn-the-Ground – Phoradendron quadrangulare and P. rubrum Mistletoe-like parasitic plants that grow on Cabbage Trees (Guapira discolor) in Grand Cayman, Rosemary (Croton linearis) in Little Cayman and Bull Hoof (Bauhinia divaricata) in Cayman Brac. P. rubrum grows on Cabbage Trees (G. discolor) and also on Mahogany.
The berries were used for women’s ailments (1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition).
Scorn-the-Ground – Phoradendron quadrangulare, Kings GC 14, GC 150, GC 365, GC 388, CB 91
Scorn-the-Ground – Phoradendron rubrum, Kings GC 165, GC388, Lewis GC 14, LC 36, LC 43
Scorn-the-Ground – Phoradendron sp, Colliers Wilderness Reserve Trail
Scorpion Tail – Heliotropium indicum
Serasee – Momordica charantia
Soursop – Annona muricata
Strong Back, Kidney Bush, (Shiny-leaved Wild Coffee) – Psychotria nervosa, Family: RUBIACEAE, Vulnerable. Shrub up to 2.5m tall. Butterflies nectar on the white flowers, birds eat the fruit – red drupe. The leaves were used as a medicine for back trouble, a tea was made for kidneys and as a tonic.
Florida, the West Indies and continental America, variable.
Cayman plants grow is rocky woodlands. Culturally significant plant, suitable for use in landscaping.
Wild Coffee (Florida) does not contain caffeine. Seeds used as coffee substitute resulted in “only bad taste and terrible headaches”.
Flora of the Cayman Islands 2012 by George R. Proctor, p.629, Fig.240, Pl.62 Kings GC 316, Lewis GC 33a
Strong Back, Kidney Bush / Wild Coffee – Psychotria nervosa
Wild Coffee – Psychotria nervosa
Tamarind – Tamarindus indica
Tea Banker – Pectis caymanensis Critically Endangered
P. c. var. caymanensis Cuba and the Cayman Islands
P. c. var. robusta Grand Cayman endemic
Tea Banker – Pectis caymanensis
History It was first recorded in the botanical literature of Grand Cayman in 1899 by Charles F. Millspaugh M.D. Department of Botany Curator, Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, Illinois. Millspaugh was a guest of Allison V. Armour, the Chicago meat-packing millionaire, on a West Indian cruise of the yacht ‘Utowana’; they visited the Cayman Islands during February, 1899. The chief set of Millspaugh’s specimens is in the herbarium of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Millspaugh published lists of his collection.
On February 8, 1899, the ‘Utowana’ stopped at The Creek ,‘Cayman Brae’ (Cayman Brac) A Norther sprang up in the night, so they had to leave for a point further west, where they anchored. They did some more collecting and then sailed on to Little Cayman, but found no safe harbour. They reached Georgetown (sic), Grand Cayman after dark on Feb. 9. The Health Officer forbade them to land as their last port (Port Antonio, Jamaica) was reported to be infected with measles. They were, however, given permission to go ashore elsewhere as long as they kept away from any other person or dwelling. Because of the Norther, they anchored at ‘Spot Bay’ (Spotts).
Tea Banker was originally called Pectis cubensis, it had been found in Cuba. Millspaugh found it on Grand Cayman on Feb.14, 1899: ‘Fine full masses of this species were found in the sand of the roadside at Spot Bay, Grand Cayman (1279), but not seen elsewhere on the island. It is called “Flat-weed,” and is used in infusion as a stomachic tonic.’ (Millspaugh, 1889)
FLICKER_4 Pectis caymanensis Dec 2009
Conservation – Tea Banker is difficult to transplant. Although it can be grown from seed, it seems to require salt, such as at a beach ridge habitat, and fresh water, (when rain falls after the dry season), for the seeds to germinate.
Thom Thistle – Argemone mexicana
Tittie Mollie – Euphorbia mesembrianthemifolia (syn. Chamaesyce mesembrianthemifolia)
Tobacco, Wild – Crossopetalum rhacoma
Vervine, “Worry Vine” – Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
Wormwood – Ambrosia hispida
The above list is based on HEALING PLANTS in the CAYMAN ISLANDS
compiled by Lorna McCubbin, March 15, 1995.
Lorna McCubbin in her Wattle and Daub house, with Ironwood posts, Cousin Cora’s Cottage, Boggy Sand Road, West Bay, Jan. 19. 2003.
Other Healing Plants
“Caymania”, Desmodium – Desmodium adscendens
LOOK, DON’T TOUCH!
Beware of these plants!
LOOK, don’t touch SEP20-06 text
Other Cayman Plants
native, non-native, cultivated, invasive
Bellyache Bush – Jatropha gossypiifolia, pantropical. Low shrub, leaves deeply divided, flowers deep crimson or purple. Proctor p.448 – Bitter Cassava, Wild Cassava
Bellyache Bush – Jatropha gossypiifolia. Photo: Ann Stafford, Camana Way, Grand Cayman, April 10, 2009.
Bulrush, Bull Rush, Rush, Cat-tail – Typha domingensis TYPHACEAE Vulnerable Wetland reed-like herb, with creeping rhizome (underground stem). In some countries, fibrous stems and leaves used for many purposes, eg thatch, soft matting, ropes and baskets. Downy wool of inflorescence can be applied like cotton to wounds and ulcers. Edible young shoots, said to taste like asparagus. Pollen can be used as flour to make bread, highly flammable.
Kings GC 216
Bulrush, Bull Rush, Zamia (Coontie, Florida Arrowroot – US) – Zamia integrifolia CYCADACEAE. Critically Endangered. Zamia is DIOECIOUS. It is the larval food plant of the Atala butterfly, which flies on Cayman Brac, but not Grand Cayman or Little Cayman although Zamia grows on all three islands. Florida, Jamaica and Puerto Rico
Kings GC 256; PCB 1
Underground root-like stem/root used to make Bulrush Porridge, Bulrush starch, which was on display at the Jamaica Exhibition of 1891.
Zamia plant on left bears male cones, plant on right bears female cones which have bright scarlet seeds.
Jamaica International Exhibition 1891
Ref. A History of the Cayman Islands by Neville Williams 1970, p.65
Bulrush, Zamia, starchy root and underground stem.
Candlenut, called ‘Walnut’ in Cayman – Aleurites moluccanus = A. moluccana (It is not related to the true Walnut – Juglans regia)
Cassava, Tapioca, Manioc, Tapioca, Yuca – Manihot esculenta. Native to Brazil. Kings GC 309, Proctor p.450
Cassava, Tapioca, Manioc, Tapioca, Yuca – Manihot esculenta
Cassava – Manihot esculenta Extract: There are several named cultivars available. The primitive “bitter cassavas” contain large amounts of cyanide and need a great deal of processing to make their roots edible. The modern “sweet” cultivars require only peeling and cooking.
Cassava meal and tapioca are made by grinding the roots in water and then evaporating off the liquid which includes the cyanide compounds. Products made from the cassava root include yuca, tapioca pudding, farinha, starch, soaps, glue, sugar, alcoholic drinks, acetone and cyanide. In tropical Asia the tender young leaves are boiled and eaten. In the Caribbean, juice extracted from cassava roots is flavored with cinnamon, cloves and sugar and called cassareep; it is used for preserving and flavoring meats, and is an essential ingredient in pepperpot stew.
Warning: All parts of the cassava plant are poisonous and must be processed by peeling, pressing or cooking before eating. It is reported that the Caribbean Arawak Indians committed suicide be eating raw cassava rather than face slavery under the Spanish invaders.
Coral Plant – Jatropha multifida, ornamental, butterfly nectar plant
Ghost Orchid* – Dendrophylax fawcettii* Grand Cayman endemic Critically Endangered
Kings GC 19, GC 19a
Ghost Orchid – Dendrophylax fawcettii, Grand Cayman endemic, has no pseudobulbs or leaves. The very fragrant night-scented flowers may attract Sphinx (Hawk) Moths to pollinate them, probably the Giant Sphinx Moth – Cocytius antaeus medor. The photo above shows a dead. unpollinated flower, a pollinated flower forming a fruit (capsule) and new roots, the beginning of a new plant, all on the same stolon (elongated stem). The larval food plant of this moth was likely to be native Pond Apple – Annona glabra, before other Annona species were introduced: Soursop – A. muricata, Sweetsop, Sugar Apple – A. squamosa and Custard Apple, Bullock’s Heart – A. reticulata.
Old George* – Wittmackia caymanensis* syn. Hohenbergia caymanensis
Grand Cayman endemic, Critically Endangered giant Bromeliad, that grows on the rocks or in trees.
Rothrock Winter of 1890-1891; Kings GC 196
Old George – Wittmackia caymanensis syn. Hohenbergia caymanensis in its natural habitat in the Ironwood Forest, SE of George Town.
Old George, growing on phytokarst and on trees, and Ghost Orchid, in their natural habitat. Both are Grand Cayman endemics.
Peregrina – Jatropha integerrima, native to Cuba; ‘Compacta’ is a smaller, more compact cultivar, ornamental, butterfly nectar plant
Physic Nut – Jatropha curcas, shrub or small tree with viscid milky or reddish sap. Proctor p.448
The Whole Truth by C. Dennis Adams
It is quite true that if you cut the bark of the Physic Nut Tree, Jatropha curcas, at noon on Good Friday it will bleed red. It is also true that if you cut it at 10am on August 28 or 3pm on January 5 it will bleed red. This does not of course bear on any conflict between Science and Religion; the matter has little to do with either, but is one of stating what is true and, by omission and implication, what is false. An incomplete statement can be as misleading as a purposely inaccurate one.
What in effect we have here is a trick to impress the gullible. Those who carry out a simple investigation can find out how the trick is made to work convincingly.
Physic Nut – Jatropha curcas, 10 minutes later. Photo: Lois Blumenthal, April 18, 2003.
Wild Oil Nut – Jatropha divaricata, monoecious shrub, native to Jamaica and Grand Cayman only. Found near Forest Glen and along the Mastic Trail. Critically Endangered. Proctor p.448
Wild Oil Nut – Jatropha divaricata
Wild Oil Nut Jatropha divaricata fruit, Mastic Trail, May 19, 2004
Botanists and collectors
William Fawcett May 1888
John T. Rothrock “Winter of 1890-1891”
A. S. Hitchcock Jan. 1891
Charles F. Millspaugh Feb. 1889
C. A. Mately Jan. 1924
Wilfred Kings May-Aug. 1938
C. Bernard Lewis Apr. 1938, Dec. 1944, Mar. 1945, Dec. 1945
C. M. Maggs June 1938
George R. Proctor Feb. 1948, Apr.-May 1956, June-July 1967, Aug. 1968, Nov. 1968, Sep. 1969, Aug. 1975, Nov. 1991-Apr. 2004 (15 short collecting trips)
Marie-Helene Sachet Sep. 1958
Robert A. Dressler May 1964
Richard A. Howard & B. Wagenknecht Jan. 1969
Martin Brunt May-June 1967
Jonathan Sauer June 1967
John Popenoe Apr. 1969
Donovan S. & Helen B. Correll Nov. 1979
G. F. Guala June 1998
Flora of the Cayman Islands
by George R. Proctor 2012 Kew Publishing
Dr. Proctor, nearly 84 years old, with his specimen box, on the Mastic Trail, Grand Cayman. Photo: P. Ann van B. Stafford, April 6, 2004.
Wild Trees in the Cayman Islands
by Fred Burton, illustrated by Penny Clifford, first published 1997
Threatened Plants of the Cayman Islands The Red List
by Frederic J. Burton, Kew Publishing 2008.
Butterflies of the Cayman Islands
by R. R. Askew and P. A. van B. Stafford, Apollo Books 2008
This book includes the butterfly larval food plants in Cayman.
Caribbean Sea
1773 Gauld map of Grand Cayman
Dates of Importation of Plants to Bermuda
from 1593.
Bermuda Plants Importation dates
1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands
by P. Ann van B. Stafford, April 2017
Population of the Cayman Islands was 5,930 in 1931 and 6,690 in 1943.
The storm devastated the Cayman Islands, especially Cayman Brac (from Nov. 7-9), which was inundated by the storm surge, reported to be as high as 10 m (33 ft). The wind was estimated at 200mph. Some people took refuge in the caves. Many homes and buildings were washed out to sea, many people had to climb trees to escape the floodwaters. 110 people died on the islands; one of them was on Grand Cayman and the rest were on Cayman Brac. The ship Balboa also sank as a result of the storm.
1938
The 1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands (April 16 to August 27) was the first natural history survey of all three islands, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, and reports were written about the flora, fauna, geology and wetlands. The founding study of Cayman’s butterflies was done then by entomologists C. Bernard Lewis and Gerald H. Thompson, both Oxford students, (Carpenter and Lewis 1943) and gave a good indication of the number of species on each island at that time.
The expedition was in acceptance of a long-standing invitation by Cayman Islands Commissioner Allen Wolsey Cardinall (1934-1941) to make a biological survey of the islands. Lewis was a Rhodes scholar from the United States, who later became Director of the Institute of Jamaica in Kingston. The identification & documentation of specimens were delayed by of the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
The Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) collected and observed were fully discussed and published in 1943 by Carpenter and Lewis. (G.D. Hale Carpenter, Hope Department of Entomology, University Museum, Oxford and C.B. Lewis, Museum of the Institute of Jamaica).
CONTENTS
People: Oxford
People: Cayman
Places: Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman
Transportation: Fyffes Line, CIMBOCO, truck, motor boat, skiff, catboats, HMS Orion
Accommodation: Headquarters in George Town
Animals: Freshwater Turtles
Animals: Sea Turtles
Animals: Reptiles – Lizards and Iguanas
Animals: Reptiles – Geckos
Animals: Reptiles – Snakes
Animals: Insects – Dragonflies, Damselflies
Animals: Insects – Termites
Animals: Insects – Cicadas
Animals: Insects – True Bugs
Animals: Insects – Beetles
Animals: Insects – Bees, Ants, Wasps
Animals: Insects – Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera)
Animals: Insects – Moths (Lepidoptera)
Animals: Insects – Flies (Diptera) – Mosquitoes
Animals: Insects – other
Animals: Arachnids
Animals: Birds
Animals: Marine
Plants
Poem of farewell by Leila E. Ross
Return to the UK
Links
Selected References
PEOPLE
Oxford:
The party comprised:-
W. Gemmell Alexander (Brasenose College) – Leader and Organiser
C. Bernard Lewis (Wadham College) – Biologist (Rhodes Scholar from the United States) (lewisi)
Gerald H. Thompson (St. Edmund Hall) – Biologist (thompsoni)
W. Neil Paton (Magdalen College) – Marine Biologist
Wilfred Kings Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby – Botanist (kingsii)
Cayman:
Allen Wolsey Cardinall – Commissioner of the Cayman Islands, from 1934 to 1941
Ernest Panton – Assistant Commissioner
Joseph Rodriguez (Roddie) Watler – Police Inspector, truck owner
Bentley (Benny) Ross – boat owner – the ‘BRAVO’
Urban Myles – cook
Norris Jackson – assistant
Pershing Merren – assistant
Sam Ebanks – assistant
John Howard – assistant
Ira Thompson – Commissioner’s chauffeur
W. Gemmell ALEXANDER (1918-2014)
(Brasenose College) – Leader and Organiser
The son of a solicitor, William Gemmell Alexander was born at Hooton, Cheshire, on August 19, 1918. After education at Sedbergh School he signed on with a North Sea trawler at a shilling a day before going up to Brasenose College, Oxford, to read Law.
Gemmell Alexander – 1938 Oxford Expedition Leader and Organiser, had his 20th. birthday in Kingston, Jamaica, on his return from Cayman. Caymanian Compass, March 15, 2004.
National Trust for the Cayman Islands – Insectarium
Gemmell Alexander 1918-2014 Obituary
In 1938 he was a leader of the Oxford expedition to identify the mosquitoes that were preventing the development of a tourist industry in the Cayman Islands.
Oxford Today – Oxonian Lives Sept. 2014
Charles Bernard LEWIS (1913-1992)
born in Massachussetts, USA, a man of wide interests: Biology, Geology, History, Archeology and Art.
Brown University, Rhode Island, and John Hopkins University, USA; Rhodes Scholar Oxford University (Wadham College), UK
1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands, where he met his future wife, Lucille Bodden, daughter of Cuthbert Bodden. Lewis was unable to complete his education at Oxford because of the outbreak of the Second World War (1939). After returning from Cayman to England, he and most other American civilians there, were asked to leave the UK and return to the United States.
1939 September – C. B. Lewis set up the Natural History Museum in JAMAICA. He was the curator.
1940 October – in Jamaica he married Lucille Bodden of Grand Cayman. They had four children – Mary, Bill, David and Richard.
1940 Herpetology of the Cayman Islands by Chapman Grant and Charles Bernard Lewis, Institute of Jamaica, Reptiles, 65 pages The Herpetology of the Cayman Islands
The Discovery of the Blue Iguana
1950 Director of the Institute of Jamaica
Charles Bernard Lewis by Margaret Hodges, p.6
Gerald H. THOMPSON (1917-2002) (St. Edmund Hall) – Biologist (thompsoni)
Gerald Harvey Thompson – biograpghy
Gerald Thompson – Pioneer of filming plants and small animals
1936-1939 Gerald read Zoology at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University. He had been awarded a County Exhibition. Secretaryship of The Oxford University Entomological Society 1938.
1938 Invited to be assistant entomologist on the Oxford University Exploration Club six month expedition to the three Cayman Islands in the West Indies. The purpose of the trip was to make a biological survey of the islands.
W. Neil PATON (1914-1942) (Magdalen College) – Marine Biologist (reported missing off Malta in June 1942 and was presumed killed, World War II)
Neil worked from his base, a small schooner ‘Meritwell’, in North Sound, Grand Cayman. Each specialist told Gemmell Alexander what they wanted. Gemmell helped them, especially the marine biologist, who was developing a technique for preserving live corals. He had to get the corals out of the sea, nurse them back to the ship or land, then had to keep them at the right light and right temperature and no disturbance, so that their gelatinous fronds were floating about. He had to drop a little formaldehyde into the water with a pipette, so they actually died expanded.
(Cayman Islands National Archive)
Wilfred KINGS (1889-1980) Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby – Botanist (kingsii)
Until the age of twelve, Gerald Thompson was educated at Hyndland Secondary School, Glasgow, after which he attended Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby from 1929-1936. He was Head Boy in 1936.
He knew from an early age that he wanted to be a zoologist and two men at Lawrence Sheriff School made this dream a reality. On entering the 6th Form Gerald asked to take Zoology as his main subject for Higher National certificate (‘A’ level equivalent). This was in 1933 and the subject was not included in the School teaching syllabus. The Headmaster, Cordy Wheeler, pointed out that there was neither teacher nor facilities for practical work at Lawrence Sheriff but that he would see what could be done. A few days later he told Gerald that the geography master, Wilfred Kings – who had taken a Degree in Biology eighteen years earlier – had agreed to teach him, largely in his spare time. As a sixteen year old Gerald had no conception of what this entailed; little did he know that for two years Wilfred researched and wrote to keep one lecture ahead of him. In later years he came to appreciate the disruption to Wilfred’s home life for even Sunday mornings were spent doing practicals in the biology laboratory of Rugby School which kindly lent their facilities.
Wilfred Kings was given leave of absence from Lawrence Sheriff School in 1938 when, aged 20, Gerald was invited to join The Oxford University expedition to the Cayman Islands; Wilfred was included in the expedition as Botanist on Gerald’s recommendation, and hence their partnership was renewed. The Pond – a book by Gerald and Oxford Scientific Films was dedicated by Gerald to the memory of Wilfred Kings 1889-1980 – ‘a great teacher and a wonderful friend’.
Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands 1938 – homemade equipment, the still – for recovering waste alcohol. (C. B. Lewis photo 1938). Alcohol was needed for the preservation of specimens.
Sam Ebanks, Gerald Thompson and John Howard – off to work – Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands (C. B. Lewis photo 1938)
John Howard, (C. B. Lewis photo 1938)
Urban Myles, 97 years old. He was the cook on the 1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands.
They camped on the little schooner ‘Meritwell’ in North Sound for one week
and used a motor boat and canoe for their biological observations and collections.
Photo: Ann Stafford, Mar. 3, 2007.
PLACES
Liverpool, UK; Kingston, Jamaica; Grand Cayman (population:4,500); Cayman Brac (population: 1,500); Little Cayman (population: 64).
Caribbean map
Grand Cayman map
Grand Cayman, Wilfred Kings, botanist: May 13 – 17 and June 11 – August 10.
Little Cayman and Cayman Brac – the Sister Islands (Acorn Publishing Co Ltd 2013)
Cayman Brac, Wilfred Kings, botanist: May 18 – May 28.
Little Cayman, Wilfred Kings, botanist: May 28 – June 11
Oxford from Boars Hill, Oxfordshire, UK
TRANSPORTATION
Fyffes Line fleet were passenger-carrying banana boats , owned and operated by UK banana importer, Elders and Fyffes Limited.
Bernard, Gemmell, Neil and Gerald sailed from Liverpool, UK on the Fyffes Line ship SAMALA on March 22, (14 days voyage) to Kingston, Jamaica, then on the CIMBOCO (motor boat) from Kingston to Grand Cayman. Wilfred Kings left the UK in April and joined them in Grand Cayman.
Richard Arlington Bush, Caymanian seaman onboard the SAMALA, was brother-in-law of Cayman Islands Assistant Commissioner, Ernest Panton. (Ref. Gemmell Alexander’s red diary 1938, in the Cayman Islands National Archive.)
Transportation in the Cayman Islands: truck, motor boat, catboats.
CIMBOCO, Cayman Islands Motor Boat Company, was the first locally built, motorized sailing ship in Cayman. CIMBOCO was Cayman’s connection to the world: regular travel, shipping, parcel post, providing a reliable supply of staple & exotic foods, such as flour, sugar, fruit & even ice! “Her launching in May 1927 was a great day in the history of the Cayman Islands,” said Miss Annie Huldah Bodden, secretary until 1947.
Launching of the CIMBOCO, May 1927, photo: N.L Booker, father of Aarona Booker Kohlman, who is the author of ‘UNDER TIN ROOFS Cayman in the 1920’s’ (1993).
1929 Ford truck was used to get the team and their wooden cases of collection equipment around Grand Cayman.
Catboats: unloading cargo stamp $1.60, (release date Aug. 31, 2011).
CIMBOCO and HMS Orion from Grand Cayman to Kingston, Jamaica.
ACCOMMODATION
Expedition Headquarters in George Town – Althea’s cottage
Rum Point – tents
North Sound – Schooner MERITWELL
Cayman Brac – Aston Rutty’s house
Little Cayman – Capt. Sam Bodden’s house
South Sound – Czar Hurlston’s house
Location of Althea’s cottage, George Town, Headquarters of the Oxford University Expedition Team in 1938. Ernest Panton bought the property (between 1938 and 1943). CIBC-First Caribbean International Bank, Main St occupies the location now, opposite Elizabethan Square. (Photo: May 16, 2018)
Who was Althea? Sisters Althea and Olive Jennett married brothers Hugh and Cuthbert Bodden. Althea and Hugh (a sea captain) moved to Jamaica. Ernest Panton bought the property (between 1938 and 1943). Cuthbert and Olive’s daughter, Lucille Bodden, married Bernard Lewis in Jamaica on October 30, 1940. Lewis had been appointed curator of the Natural History Museum at the Institute of Jamaica September 1, 1939, the day Hitler invaded Poland.
‘Oxford House’ (photo: Ann Stafford, Nov.30, 2007). The team stayed in Czar Hurlston’s house on South Sound. It was subsequently moved to South Church St, its current location. The front porch was added.
ANIMALS
REPTILES: Freshwater Turtles
Hickatee, Taco River Slider – Trachemys decussata angusta (introduced, weel-established)
REPTILES: Sea Turtles
Loggerhead turtle – Caretta caretta
Green Turtle – Chelonia mydas
Hawksbill Turtle – Eretmochelys imbricata
REPTILES: Lizards and Iguanas
Lizards:
Eastern Grand Cayman Blue-throated Anole – Anolis conspersus lewisi (endemic)
Reptile Database – Anolis conspersus
Anole Adventures in the Cayman Islands
Iguanas:
The endemic Blue Iguana – Cyclura lewisi, Grand Cayman’s largest native land animal, is named after Bernard Lewis.
Blue Iguana – Cyclura lewisi, Endangered Grand Cayman endemic, named after biologist C. Bernard Lewis, Rhodes Scholar, who took a male and female to the British Museum of Natural History, collected during the 1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands. Photo: Ann Stafford, on the Woodland Trail, Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, Grand Cayman, Apr. 22, 2012.
Cyclura lewisi Grant, 1940 Synonyms: Cyclura macleayi ssp. lewisi Grant 1940 Cyclura nubila ssp. lewisi Grant, 1940
IUCN Red List – Blue Iguana (International Union for Conservation of Nature)
Blue Iguana – Cyclura lewisi. Photo: Ann Stafford, on the Woodland Trail, Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, Grand Cayman, Aug.18, 2013.
The Herpetology of the Cayman Islands
The Herpetology of the Cayman Islands (including the results of the Oxford University Cayman Islands Biological Expedition, 1938) with an appendix on the Cayman Islands and marine turtle, by Chapman Grant and C Bernard Lewis. Publisher: Institute of Jamaica, 1940.
Chapman GRANT (1887-1983) was an American herpetologist, historian and publisher. He was the last living grandson of United States, President Ulysses S. Grant.
Grand Cayman Blue Iguana – Cyclura lewisi. Photo: Ann Stafford, Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, Grand Cayman, March 3, 2011.
Sister Islands Rock Iguana (Lesser Cayman Islands Rock Iguana) – Cyclura nubila caymanensis, subspecies endemic to Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.
REPTILES: Geckos
Ground Gecko, Cayman Least Gecko – Sphaerodactylus argivus
This Antillean species is endemic to the Cayman Islands (Henderson and Powell 2009).
Ground Gecko, Wood Lizard – Spherodactylus argivus lewisi, Grand Cayman endemic subspecies. It probably occurs island-wide, including the satellite islands. It has been found under rocks at the bottom of sink holes, in the mouths of caves on a limestone ridge (south of Old Man Bay), and in bromeliads (Seidel and Franz 1994) .
On Little Cayman, the subspecies bartschi probably occurs island-wide, but most known specimens were collected near the beach at South Town and at Tarpon Lake (Seidel and Franz 1994); it also occurs in Owen Island.
Cayman Brac, the subspecies argivus is found island-wide (Schwartz and Henderson 1991).
REPTILES: Snakes
Water Snake – Tretanorhinus variabilis lewisi, Grand Cayman endemic subspecies
Grand Cayman Water Snake – Tretanorhinus variabilis lewisi, found by Fred Burton and photographed by Courtney Platt. Photo: Ann Stafford, Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, Sept. 21, 2003.
Grand Cayman Water Snake – Tretanorhinus variabilis lewisi, found by Fred Burton and photographed by Courtney Platt. Photo: Ann Stafford, Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, Sept. 21, 2003.
Grand Cayman Water Snake – Tretanorhinus variabilis lewisi, found by Fred Burton and photographed by Lois Blumenthal. Photo: Ann Stafford, Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, Sept. 21, 2003.
INSECTS
The Insect Fauna of Little Cayman by R.R. Askew 1980
Atoll Research Bulletin No. 241: 97-114 1980
The 1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition spent thirteen days on Little Cayman and reports on the resulting collection deal with Odonata (Fraser, 1943), water-bugs (Hungerford, 1940), Neuroptera (Banks, 1941), cicadas, (Davis, 1939), Carabidae (Darlington, 1947), Cerambycidae (Fisher, 1941, 1948), butterflies (Carpenter & Lewis, 1943) and Sphingidae (Jordan, 1940).
Classification of Insect Orders
INSECTS: DRAGONFLIES, DAMSELFLIES (Order: Odonata)
called Needlecases in Cayman
Suborder: Zygoptera DAMSELFLIES
Lestes spumarius – Antillean Spreadwing
GC, CB. The only Damselfly found in 1938, but subsequently only a single specimen has been recorded.
Suborder: Anisoptera DRAGONFLIES
Anax amazili – Amazon Darner
Orthemis ferruginea – Roseate Skimmer
Roseate Skimmer – Orthemis ferruginea. Photo: Denise Bodden, Frank Sound, Grand Cayman, August 29, 2005
Pantala flavescens – Wandering Glider
Pantala hymenaea – Spot-winged Glider
Brachymesia furcata – Red-tailed Pennant
Micrathyria didyma – Three-striped Dasher
Three-striped Dasher – Micrathyria didyma, conspicuous white spot on the seventh segment of the slender abdomen. Photo: Peter Davey, Grand Cayman, Nov. 22, 2010.
Tramea calverti – Striped Saddlebags
Erythemis vesiculosa (= Lepthemis vesiculosa) – Great Pondhawk
Great Pondhawk – Erythemis vesiculosa. Photo: Royal Tyler, Grand Cayman, July 2, 2015
Erythemis plebeja – Pin-tailed Pondhawk
Erythrodiplax umbrata – Band-winged Dragonlet
Erythrodiplax berenice naeva (= Erythrodiplax naeva) – Seaside Dragonlet
Erythrodiplax connata
References:
The Cayman Islands Natural History and Biogeography
M.A. Brunt & J.E. Davies / Editors, 1994
Chapter 17 Insects of the Cayman Islands by R. R. Askew
ODONATA pp. 340-344.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System https://www.itis.gov/
INSECTS: TRUE BUGS (Order: Hemiptera, Sub-order: Heteroptera)
Family: Lygaeidae – Seed Bugs, most often on vegetation, a total of 17 species were found (Scudder 1958), 13 in Grand Cayman, 3 in Little Cayman and 8 in Cayman Brac. Four of these were described as new by Scudder:
Ochrostethus nigriceps sp.n;
Ozophora pallidifemur sp.n;
Ozophora minuscula sp.n; Grand Cayman
Ozophora fuscifemur sp.n; Cayman Brac
Aquatic Heteroptera were described by Hungerford (1940) – 11 species from Grand Cayman
Family: Hydrometridae – Water Measurers – Hydrometra martini
Family: Gerridae – Water Striders, usually found running around on the surface of the water – Limnogonus guerini
Family: Veliidae – Ripple Bugs – Microvelia pulchella and Rhagovelia tenuipes
Family: Belostomatidae – Giant Waterbugs, 40mm or more in length, are often attracted to lights – Lethocerus collosicus and Lethocerus delpontei
Giant Waterbug – Lethocerus sp. Photo: Andrew Tyson, Grand Cayman, Feb. 23, 2016.
Family: Corixidae – Water Boatmen, they swim rapidly and somewhat erratically – Trichocorixa verticalis (also in Little Cayman)
Family: Notonectidae – Backswimmers, so named because they swim upside down, resemble Water Boatmen – Notonecta indica, Buenoa antigone (also in Cayman Brac), B. pallens and B. elegans. Buenoa antigone was ‘swarming in thousands’ in Earthquake Hole (Stake Bay), Cayman Brac in 1938. Earthquake Hole is on the coast by Stake Bay Point, by Suncave Close, across Dennis Foster Road from Half Way Ground Cave / Skull Cave.
INSECTS: CICADAS (Order: Hemiptera – True Bugs, Sub-order: Auchhenorrhyncha (Cicadas, Leafhoppers)
Family: Cicadidae
Diceroprocta caymanensis Davis, 1939
Diceroprocta cleavesi Davis, 1930
Diceroprocta ovata Davis, 1939
Each island has its own endemic Cicada species –
Grand Cayman Cicada – Diceroprocta cleavesi
Little Cayman Cicada – Diceroprocta caymanensis
Cayman Brac Cicada – Diceroprocta ovata
The species are morphologically very similar, differing principally in their colouration, and they are allied to D. biconia from Cuba.
Grand Cayman Cicada – Diceroprocta cleavesi
Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, Aug. 13, 2005
Cicadas are locally called ‘crickets’ . The male Cicadas’ ‘song’ is a high-pitched buzzing sound. Female Cicadas lay their eggs in the bark of a twig. When the eggs hatch, the nymphs drop to the ground. They burrow with their front legs, which are enlarged for tunneling, and they live underground, feeding on roots. When they are ready for their fifth and final molt, they dig their way out to the surface and climb a short distance on to a plant to which they anchors themselves. The winged adults emerge in July and August, leaving the empty nymph case attached to the plant.
Adult Cicada, just emerged from its nymph exoskeleton. Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, Aug. 5, 2002.
Cicadas collected in the Cayman Islands by the Oxford University Biological Expedition of 1938
Davis, William T. 1939 Journal of the New York Entomological Society, vol. 47, no. 3, pages 207-213
Cayman Brac Cicada – Diceroprocta ovata
Photo: Wallace Platts, Cayman Brac, May 1, 2011.
INSECTS: BEETLES: (Order: Coleoptera)
Visual Guide to Beetle Families
Family: Carabidae – Ground Beetles
Family: Staphylinidae – Rove Beetles
Family: Scarabaeidae – Chafers and Dung Beetles
Family: Cerambycidae – Long-horned Beetles or Timber Beetles
Cerambycidae Family, SubFamily and Tribe List
Styloleptus lewisi (Fisher) 1948, (synonym: Leptostylus lewisi)
Long Horned Beetle – Elaphidion lewisi Fisher 1941. British Museum Natural History, London, UK. Photo: John Chemsak. Stake Bay, Cayman Brac
Elaphidion thompsoni Fisher 1941
Long Horned Beetle – Elaphidon thompsoni Fisher 1941. British Museum Natural History, London, UK. Photo: Larry G. Bezark. Stake Bay, Cayman Brac
Anelaphus fasciatum (Fisher 1932) (synonym: Elaphidion truncatipenne)
Eburia caymanensis Fisher 1941
Eburia concisispinis Fisher 1941
Eburia lewisi Fisher 1948
Derancistrus (Elateropsis) nigripes (Fisher) 1941
Derancistrus (Elateropsis) nigricornis (Fisher) 1941
Derancistrus (Elateropsis) caymanensis (Fisher) 1941
INSECTS: BEES, ANTS, WASPS: (Order: Hymenoptera)
Caribbean Cicada Killer Wasp, Mangrove Giant Wasp – Sphecius hogardii
INSECTS: BUTTERFLIES: (Order: Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera)
More photos: CaymANNature Butterflies, Moths and their Plants
Cayman Brown Leaf Butterfly – Memphis verticordia danielana – Cayman Islands endemic subspecies
Cayman Brown Leaf Butterfly – Memphis verticordia danielana larvae on their pseudospurs they made on their larval food plant Wild Cinnamon – Croton nitens, Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, Nov. 17, 2009.
Cayman Brown Leaf Butterfly – Memphis verticordia danielana larva securing its rolled-leaf shelter with silk, on larval food plant Wild Cinnamon – Croton nitens, Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman,Sept. 21, 2010.
Memphis verticordia danielana life cycle
The endemic Pygmy Blue Butterfly – Brephidium exilis thompsoni Carpenter & Lewis 1943 is named after Gerald Thompson. He discovered it on June 23, 1938 in English Sound (named after T.M. Savage English), a lagoon off North Sound.
Cayman Pygmy Blue butterfly – Brephidium exilis thompsoni, Grand Cayman endemic subspecies named after Gerald Harvey Thompson, 1938 Oxford University biology student.
Photo: R. R. Askew, Jan. 19, 2008
ANNALS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM Vol.XXIX p.392-394
Carpenter & Lewis 1943:
This tiny butterfly is indeed limited in its distribution for it was not found outside of an area of about fifty square yards, on the edge of a secluded lagoon, known as English Sound, lying to the east of and off of the Great Sound. The vegetation of this area is low, but not unusual, and is typical of such situations which are numerous on the island. No early stages were found.
English Sound is a very shallow lagoon off North Sound, Grand Cayman, where Grand Cayman’s Pygmy Blue butterfly – Brephidium exilis thompsonii was discovered by Bernard Lewis and Gerald Thompson in 1938. English Sound is not named on maps, but was the locality of property of naturalist T. M. Savage English, who resided in Grand Cayman from late 1910 to 1914.
Naturalist Thomas Mylius Savage English lived in Grand Cayman between late 1910 and 1914. He owned property in the Cayman Kai area. This shallow lagoon, English Sound, is named after him, but it is not named on maps. The location of his dock can be seen in the centre of this photo.
Photo: Kayaker James Macfee June 18, 2008
Butterflies of the Cayman Islands 2008 by R.R. Askew and P.A. van B. Stafford 2008
This book includes records from the
1938 Oxford University Expedition to the Cayman Islands and
1975 Joint Royal Society – Cayman Islands Government Expedition to Little Cayman
INSECTS: MOTHS (Order: Lepidoptera)
Cayman Islands Moth Stamps, issued Oct. 12, 2017.
Stamps designed by M. Letitia Askew, information leaflet by R.R. Askew.
Family: Sphingidae – Sphinx or Hawk Moths
Heinrich Ernst KARL JORDAN (1861-1959)
1940 Results of the Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands 1938. Sphingidae (Lep.) Ent. mon. Mag.76, 275-277
Entomologist’s Monthly Mag. Vol. 76 pp 275-277
Sphinginae
Agrius cingulata – Pink-spotted Hawk Moth, Sweet-potato Hornworm
Pink-spotted Hawk Moth, Sweet-potato Hornworm – Agrius cingulata, live specimen caught and released by 12 year old Jonathan Bodden, Grand Cayman, Nov.18, 2017, (some scales missing from the head).
Pink-spotted Hawk Moth, Sweet-potato Hornworm – Agrius cingulata. Lois Blumenthal, The Bat Lady, had responded to a bat call, but these were not bats. Photo: Sonny Rivers, Grand Cayman, June 2005.
Cocytius antaeus – Giant Sphinx Moth
Giant Sphinx Moth – Cocytius antaeus. Caterpillar fed on Soursop – Annona muricata, in the garden of Mars van Liefde. Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, Dec.2, 2003.
Giant Sphinx Moth – Cocytius antaeus caterpillar feeding on Sweetsop, Sugar Apple – Annona squamosa, found by Elisa Piper at Little Trotters Farm and Nursery School. Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, June 20, 2006.
Manduca sexta – Carolina Sphinx Moth, Tobacco Hornworm
Tobacco Hornworm, Carolina Sphinx Moth – Manduca sexta, caterpillars feeding on Tomato plant. Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, Dec. 2, 2007.
Manduca rustica – Rustic Sphinx Moth
Manduca brontes – Brontes Sphinx Moth
Protambulyx strigililis – Streaked Sphinx Moth
Streaked Sphinx Moth – Protambulyx strigililis. Photo: Courtney Platt, Grand Cayman, 2012.
Macroglossinae
Pseudosphinx tetrio – Giant Grey/Tetrio Sphinx Moth
Giant Grey/Tetrio Sphinx Moth – Pseudosphinx tetrio, caterpillar feeding on Jasmine (Wild Frangipani, Graveyard Tree) – Plumeria obtusa. Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, Feb. 4, 2002.
Erinnyis alope – Alope Sphinx Moth
Alope Sphinx moth caterpillar – Erinnyis alope.
It was found by 9 year old Jonathan Bodden on White Fiddlewood tree (Citharexylum fruticosum), adjacent to its larval food plant, Papaya – Carica papaya.
It was on its way to pupate. George Town, Grand Cayman, Jan.4, 2015.
Below: Adult moth and pupa case from which it emerged in Jonathan’s house on Jan.23, 2015.
Erinnyis ello – Ello Sphinx Moth
Erinnyis oenotrus – Oenotrus Sphinx Moth
Erinnyis obscura – Obscure Sphinx Moth
Cautethia grotei – Grote’s Sphinx Moth
Grand Cayman (described as C. g. apira)
Cayman Brac (described as C. g. hilaris)
Aellopos tantalus – Tantalus Sphinx Moth, Hummingbird Sphinx Moth (attributed to Sesia tantalus zonata)
Tantalus Sphinx Moth, Hummingbird Sphinx/Hawk Moth – Aellopos tantalus, nectaring on Ixora flowers. Photo: Michael Austin, Grand Cayman, Dec. 19, 2011.
Tantalus Sphinx Moth, Hummingbird Sphinx/Hawk Moth – Aellopos tantalus, nectaring on Vitex, Butterfly Bush, Chaste Tree – Vitex agnus-cati flowers. Photo: Carla Reid, Grand Cayman, Dec. 2004.
Eumorpha vitis – Vine Sphinx Moth
Vine Sphinx Moth – Eumorpha vitis. Photo: Martin Keeley, Cayman Brac, May 29, 2014.
Eumorpha fasciatus – Banded Sphinx moth
Banded Sphinx moth – Eumorpha fasciatus. Photo: Peter Davey, Grand Cayman, Feb.10, 2018.
Snake Withe (Seasonvine) – Cissus verticillata (synonym C. sicyoides), above and below, likely larval food plant of Enyo lugubris, Eumorpha vitis, E. fasciatus & E. labruscae. subwoody vine that climbs on trees, rocks and fences.
Cissus verticillata – more info
Eumorpha labruscae – Gaudy Sphinx Moth, Snake Caterpillar
Gaudy Sphinx Moth, Snake Caterpillar – Eumorpha labruscae. Photo: John Paruch, Grand Cayman, Jan. 2008.
Gaudy Sphinx Moth, Snake Caterpillar – Eumorpha labruscae, nectaring on Cape Honeysuckle – Tecoma capensis. Photo: Carla Reid, Grand Cayman, Jan. 1, 2008.
Snake Caterpillar, Gaudy Sphinx Moth – Eumorpha labruscae. Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, Feb. 22, 2010.
Mexican Primrose-willow – Ludwigia octovalvis, above and below, pantropical, a wildflower of low, moist ground. Fruit a capsule with numerous minute seeds. Proctor p.413. Possible larval food plant of Eumorpha vitis, E. fasciatus & E. labruscae and Hyles lineata. Grand Cayman, Feb. 20, 2018.
Xylophanes pluto – Pluto Sphinx Moth
Xylophanes tersa – Tersa Sphinx Moth
Hyles lineata – White-lined Sphinx Moth
Reference:
Jordan, K., 1940. Results of the Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands, 1938, Sphingidae (Lep.). Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 76: 275–277.
INSECTS: FLIES (Order: Diptera)
Family: Culicidae – Mosquitoes
Family: Psychodidae, SubFamily: Phlebotominae, Sandflies (Luyzomyia) ?
ARACHNIDS:
Black Widow Spiders Order: Araneae, Family: Theridiidae – Comb-footed Spiders)
Latrodectus mactans – Southern Black Widow Spider – GC and LC
unidentified species – GC and CB (The Cayman Islands Natural History and Biogeography book p. 310, Chapter 16. Terrestrial invertebrates (other than insects) of the Cayman Islands by M. V. Hounsome).
Black Widow Spider, with egg sac, found by Carla Reid, Grand Cayman, May 2, 2003
BIRDS:
Avibase – Bird Checklists of the World – Cayman Islands:
Birds of the Cayman Islands Checklist
History of Ornithology in the Cayman Islands:
1880’s C. B. C. Cory (1857-1921), a wealthy amateur ornithologist and founder member of the American Ornithologist’s Union, was the first to study Cayman’s avifauna. He described 13 new species of landbirds. All but one, the Grand Cayman Thrush, were later reclassified as endemic subspecies (Bangs 1916).
1889 Charles J. Maynard first reported the two sulids as a single new species, later named as two:
Red-footed Booby on Little Cayman, and Brown Booby on Cayman Brac.
1892 C. B. C. Cory’s checklist of 55 species, 30 of them breeding.
Late 1910 – 1914 Thomas Mylius Savage English, naturalist, lived on Grand Cayman. He did not see the endemic Grand Cayman Thrush (Turdus ravidus) until his third year on the island.
1911 P. R. Lowe published a checklist of 75 species, 40 of them breeding.
1904 – 1938 Avian collectors visited from time to time. Their specimens were housed in various museums:
Chicago, New York, Washington, Boston (Harvard), London (Tring) and Baton Rouge (Louisiana).
1938 C. Bernard Lewis was the last person to record seeing the Grand Cayman Thrush, which became extinct.
Grand Cayman Thrush – Turdus ravidus
‘The beautiful Grand Cayman Thrush is extinct. The thrush was relatively common when first described in the 1880s, but was rare by the turn of the 19th century, and the last report came in 1938. It is unclear why this species went extinct, although habitat conversion, as well as hurricanes, have been blamed. This thrush was dark gray with a white belly, and dark, graduated tail with white tail corners; the bill and legs were bright red. The white-tipped tail, largely grayish plumage and red bare parts all suggest a close relationship with the Caribbean endemic Red-legged Thrush (Turdus plumbeus). Very little is known about this thrush as it was gone before much of the Caribbean was explored.’
Thrushes, © Princeton University Press/ illustration by Ren Hathway
Grand Cayman Thrush on Cayman Islands 1/4 d (1/4 penny) = one farthing, stamp, June 5, 1969, when the Cayman Islands currency was British pounds, shillings and pence.
Grand Cayman Thrush – Turdus ravidus, GC endemic, is extinct. This was the only Cayman Islands endemic bird species, as opposed to subspecies.
Grand Cayman Thrush on Cayman Islands 1/4 cent stamp, Sept. 8, 1970, after the Cayman Islands currency changed to the Cayman Islands Dollar from British pounds, shillings and pence.
Grand Cayman Thrush on Cayman Islands 1 cent coin, currently in use.
MARINE:
W. Neil Paten (Magdalen College) was the Marine Biologist. (He was killed in World War II.)
Map of North Sound (the Great Sound), Grand Cayman and the barrier reef.
Vidal Cay (named after survey ship HMS Vidal), off Barkers, West Bay, is also known as Barkers Cay. It was the site of the original Stingray City, about 12 ft deep. Stingray City sandbar is the location of the current shallow, popular, Stingray City. Fisherman’s Rock can be seen as a pimple on the horizon from the southern area of North Sound, and is a useful landmark near the Main Channel through the reef.
Much of Gemmel Alexander’s work (the 19 year old Team Leader) was carried out in conjunction with Neil Paten, in North Sound, inside the reef, examining and collecting specimens from the spongy, Turtle Grass–covered bottom (Thalassia testudinum). They camped on the little schooner, the ‘Meritwell’, in North Sound for one week, and used a motor boat, operated by Benny Ross, and canoe for their biological observations and collections. Urban Myles was the cook.
Ford’s Lagoon is probably English Sound, (neither are marked on any maps), named after Thomas Mylius Savage English who live in Cayman for about 3 years (late 1910-1914). It is a very shallow lagoon, with a narrow entrance, off Little Sound, south of Rum Point.
Jackson Point rock-pool, SW of George Town. Neil collected from the rock-pools on April 23 and 26, 1938.
Neil had a lot of special requirements. He ran out of alcohol to preserve specimens, because they had done so much collecting, more than expected. They set up a still to make their own alcohol, in the garden of the house in George Town that was their headquarters.
The Cap Pilar , a 3-masted square rigged French Barquentine (Schooner Barque), owned and captained by Adrian Seligman (1909-2003), nearing the conclusion of its two year round the world voyage, visited Grand Cayman in June, on its way from Montego Bay, Jamaica (May), to New York (July). The Cap Pilar had a marine biologist on board, with equipment from the British Museum. W. Gemmel Alexander, Oxford Expedition Team Leader, cabled the British Museum to request the transfer of equipment from the Cap Pilar, in George Town harbour, to the Oxford Expedition. Permission was granted.
The purpose of the Cap Pilar’s two-year round the world voyage, begun in September 1936, captained by Adrian Seligman, then of Wimbledon, England, was partly adventure and partly to collect plants for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The original botanist on the Cap Pilar was A. F. Roper, but when the ship reached South Africa on its outward journey, his place was taken by C.M. Maggs, then a Horticulturalist at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, Cape Town, South Africa. The Cap Pilar visited Australia and after making collections on various Pacific Islands (including the Galapagos) and at Panama, made a final stop at Grand Cayman, where a few plants and seeds were collected.
The Cap Pilar set sail from Grand Cayman on June 23, 1938 and arrived in New York on July 12, 1938. They were upstaged by Howard Hughes, who had just flown around the world nonstop and was being given a ticker-tape reception up Broadway.
PLANTS
Wilfred Kings was invited to join the Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands by Gemmell Alexander on March 21, 1938 in the capacity of Botanist, as their Botanist was unable to join the Expedition at last moment.
Report on the Botanical Collections
from Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman
Wilfred Kings Sept. 1938
Grand Cayman May 13 – May 17 and June 11 – Aug.10
Cayman Brac May 18 – May 28
Little Cayman May 28 – June 11
Kings saw Mr Alston at the British Museum (Natural History), explained the situation, and that he was not a Specialist in any capacity. They were satisfied that he should go merely as a Collector.
Mr Charles Elton and Dr Hobby in a interview at the Hope Department of Entomology, Oxford, were also willing for Kings to work in that capacity. Charles ELTON
Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby, Governors granted Kings a leave of absence for the term, where he was the Geography Master. Kings eventually joined the party in Grand Cayman on May 13, 1938.
The Collection, as far as the Flowering Plants and Ferns were concerned, was almost entirely in duplicate.
FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS by George R. PROCTOR, 2012 Extracts from p.19 and 21
‘The Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands, a party of five under the leadership of W.G. Alexander, carried out fieldwork from April 17 to August 27, 1938. The primary objects of attention were plants, insects, reptiles, and fishes, but nearly all animal taxa received some attention. The official botanist of this group was Wilfred W. KINGS, who joined the expedition about a month later than the others; he had been especially recruited from Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby, because Oxford had no available botanist at that time. Before his arrival, some plant-collecting was done by C. Bernard LEWIS, whose interests were otherwise chiefly zoological. Kings gathered a large collection of material from all three islands; until recently, these excellent specimens constituted the major basis of our knowledge of the Cayman flora. The main set of the Kings collection is deposited at the British Museum (Natural History) in London, while duplicate material can be found in several other herbaria.
Lewis, then an Oxford student (a Rhodes Scholar from the United States), later became Director of the Institute of Jamaica in Kingston; he collected further Cayman plant specimens during the 1940s. His continued interest in the Cayman Islands has been a constant source of encouragement during the writing of this book.’
‘Collectors of Cayman Islands plants
Wilfred W. KINGS May-Aug. 1938. 645 specimens seen in Herbaria at British Museum, Gray Herbarium of Harvard University and Missouri Botanical Garden
Bernard LEWIS Apr. 1938, Dec. 1944, Mar. 1945, Dec. 1945. 45 specimens seen in Herbaria at British Museum and Institute of Jamaica.’
TROPICOS Missouri Botanical Garden, Collector W. Kings 1938
Grand Cayman localties visited:
George Town area – beach, bluff and pasture lands
East End – beach and bluff
West Bay – beach
South Sound – beach and bluff, mainly along ‘Leg and Knee Road’
Red Bay
East End – inland to the swampy Savannah Land
Little Sound
Governor’s Creek and Sound
Batabano – pasture land
Booby Creek
North Side – beach, bluff, Forest Glen, Cedar Cliff, Malportas Pond, Round Cay Pond, Savage English’s Cistern, Rum Point
Old Man Bay
North East Coast – from Old Man Bay to Roger Wreck
Frank Sound Bridge
George Town Barcadere
West Bay – North West Point, Mount Pleasant
Pedro Castle and Newlands
Cayman Brac localities visited:
Stake Bay
Earthquake Hole – Stake Bay Point, (east of the hospital and north of the caves, near to the coastline)
Cotton Tree Land, West End
West End
Across the Island from Stake Bay to the North Side with its abrupt Undercut Cliff and sandy coastal strip, with broken coral on the coastline.
Along the NE to Spot Bay and on the high bluff to the North East Point Lighthouse
Little Cayman localities visited, there were no roads on the Island:
South Town wide strip of coast land at the Western end – most collecting was done here.
Duck Hole
Track from South Town to SW of Bloody Bay
North coast to Jackson
‘Cross the Land Road’ to South Hole Sound
Extreme East End was visited by boat.
Information on place names and locations:
Round Cay, North Side, Grand Cayman
Where the ground is pure Coral Sand a plantation is made by collecting bush and coral rock from the shore, roughly in the proportion of 3:1 and burning this in a carefully constructed fire. On such a “Ground” at Round Cay, North Side, the owner grew six crops of maize in three years. No rotation or manuring is attempted and such ground is then left to grow bush for a few years and this is then burned for further planting. The constant burning of the bush also fragments the Limestone and improves the tilth. This method is commonly used in road-making.
1988 Ordnance Survey map of the Rum Point, Cayman Kai, English Sound, Bowse Land area of North Side, Grand Cayman.
Savage English’s Cistern, Old Man English’s Cistern
Fresh Water Sponges – It was hoped to obtain specimens – for Mr. M. Burton of the British Museum (now the Natural History Museum, London) as I understand that none have been recorded from the Caymans. Only one possible specimen (and this may prove to be an alga) was found in SAVAGE ENGLISH’S CISTERN (the circular one) North Side. This cistern has not been used since about 1917 when the house was destroyed (by a hurricane).
Thomas Mylius Savage ENGLISH – naturalist, lived in Grand Cayman over a hundred years ago (late 1910 to 1914)
Link to List of plants by Collector – Kings, W. on Missouri Botanical Garden website, Tropicos.org: 1938 Oxford University Expedition to the Cayman Islands – Wilfred Kings flora specimens
FLOWERING PLANTS of JAMAICA
by C. Dennis Adams, 1972
Dennis Adams’ intermittent visits to the Natural History Museum (formerly the British Museum – BM), London, began in 1959 when it was suggested that he might get a useful preliminary overview of a West Indian flora by checking through a rather comprehensive collection of Cayman Island specimens (645) made there in 1938 by Wilfred Kings during the Oxford University Expedition. That was prior to Adams’ move from Ghana to Jamaica.
If a Cayman species was also found in Jamaica, Adams included it in the range in his book Flowering Plants of Jamaica 1972.
FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS
by George R. Proctor, 2012
published by Royal Botanic Gardens, KEW
PLANTS INDEX
Cayman endemic*
Agalinis kingsii* – Kings Agalinis (Agalinis – False Foxglove)
Encyclia kingsii*
Heliotropium humifusum – Matlike Heliotrope
Phoradendron rubrum – Scorn-the-Ground
Salvia caymanensis* – Cayman Sage
Vanilla claviculata – Vanilla Orchid
PLANTS:
Kings 1938 – island and reference number: GC – Grand Cayman, LC – Little Cayman, CB – Cayman Brac
Plants named after Wilfred Kings:
Encyclia kingsii
Encylia kingsii Orchid (synonym Epidendrum kingsii), named after Wilfred Kings, biologist on the 1938 Oxford Expedition, June 7, Jackson, Little Cayman.
Encyclia kingsii
|
Encyclia kingsii (C.D. Adams) Nir, Lindleyana 9(3): 147. 1994.
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The illustration (link) shows the shape of the lip, petal and sepal.
Encyclia kingsii Cayman Islands Orchid stamps issue 2005.
Encyclia kingsii and Banana Orchid (Myrmecophila thomsoniana var. thomsoniana) on Shake Hand tree (Xylosma bahamense). Photo: P. Ann van B. Stafford, East End, Grand Cayman, June 24, 2007. Flora of the Cayman Islands by George R. Proctor, 2012, p.201, 206 & 319.
Grand Cayman, June 24, 2007.
Encyclia kingsii (= Epidendrum kingsii), ORCHIDACEAE, from Cayman Brac, in a private collection in Grand Cayman. P. Ann van B. Stafford, July 2, 2010.
Agalinis kingsii* Proctor, Sloanea 1: 3 (1977)
King’s Agalinis (Agalinis – False Foxglove) Agalinis kingsii
A hemiparasitic slender ANNUAL herb with pink flowers, Critically Endangered Grand Cayman endemic, (Family was SCROPHULARIACEAE, is now OROBANCHACEAE) was collected by Kings (Kings GC 257) “in mangrove swamps on the drier land” at Forest Glen, North Side. The species has since been found east of Duck Pond Bight and south of the Salina Reserve (Proctor, Aug. 8, 1992).
Ref. Flora of the Cayman Islands by George R. Proctor, p. 601, Fig. 224, Plate 58.
Agalinis kingsii – IUCN Red List
In the Salina Reserve sedge wetlands, this species appears to benefit from fire. This occasionally spreads from neighbouring agricultural land and burns back stands of Cladium jamaicense sedge during the dry season. In the Central Mangrove Wetland the species colonizes exposed peat in trail clearings through Conocarpus erectus shrubland, suggesting that populations might expand widely in the Central Mangrove after widespread tree fall resulting from major hurricanes.
Agalinis kingsii, showing habitat, with Cutting Grass, Saw Grass – Cladium jamaicanse (Sedge) and Buttonwood – Conocarpus erectus. Photo: Maribeth Latvis, Salina Reserve, Grand Cayman, 2011.
This species is reported to be hemi-parasitic, tapping into root connections to other plants. An unknown species of ant colonizes the raised peat mounds where the species grows. These ants may be involved in pollination and/or dispersal of its seeds.
Agalinis kingsii, photo: Maribeth Latvis, Salina Reserve, Grand Cayman, 2011.
Salina Reserve, where Agalinis kingsii grows, affected by fire.
Fire burns Salina Reserve, Jan. 2015
The reserve, which is owned and maintained by the Cayman Islands National Trust and is home to hundreds of the protected indigenous Blue Iguana (Cyclura lewisi), is described on its website as totaling 646 acres “comprising sedge and buttonwood swamps, dry shrubland and forest in an intricate mosaic.”
Expeditions 2011: Grand Cayman Island Agalinis kingsii, Maribeth Latvis
Maribeth Latvis – Plant Systematics and Evolution
Plants recorded by Wilfred Kings in 1938 (A – Z scientific name):
Heliotropium humifusum – Matlike Heliotrope Kings GC 59, LC 48, LC 78
Phoradendron quadrangulare – Scorn-the-Ground.
Kings: GC 14, GC 150, GC 365, GC 388 ? CB 91.
Small shrub, parasitic on
Cabbage tree – Guapira discolor on Grand Cayman
Rosemary – Croton linearis on Little Cayman
Bull Hoof – Bauhinia divaricata on Cayman Brac.
Scorn-the-Ground – Phoradendron quadrangulare. Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, March 19, 2017.
Phoradendron rubrum – Scorn-the-Ground.
Kings: GC 165, GC 388 ? LC 36, LC 43. Lewis: GC 14
Small shrub, parasitic on Mahogany – Swietenia mahogoni and Cabbage tree – Guapira discolor. Cayman Islands Bahamas and Cuba
The berries of Scorn-the-Ground plants are dispersed by birds.
Salvia caymanensis* – Cayman Sage
Kings: GC 422, Proctor p.590.
Vanilla claviculata – Vanilla Orchid
Kings GC 412 Proctor p.190.
Vanilla Orchid – Vanilla claviculata, leafless stem, and Grand Cayman Banana Orchid – Myrmecophila thomsoniana var. thomsoniana*, Grand Cayman, Oct. 17, 2007.
Fresh water sponges?
Thomas Mylius Savage English’s Cistern (the circular one). Photo: C. Bernard Lewis, North Side, Grand Cayman, 1938.
Wilfred Kings hoped to obtain specimens of Fresh Water Sponges for Mr Burton of the British Museum, as none had been recorded from the Cayman Islands. The only possible specimen, which might have proved to be an alga, was found in this cistern, which had not been used since 1917 when the house was destroyed by a hurricane.
Farewell
In 1930 Leila Ross-Shier (nee McTaggart) composed a song she called “Beloved Isle Cayman” and for many years it was regarded as the unofficial national song. It was not until 1993 when it became the official national song when the Cayman Islands Coat of Arms, Flag and National Song Law were passed. She was the mother of Benny Ross, boat owner and driver.
She wrote a poem of farewell to the Oxford team in C. Bernard Lewis’s copy of the book Life and Adventures in the West Indies, by Vaquero, originally published in 1914, which it in the Cayman Islands National Archive.
Oxford University Cayman Islands Biological Expedition
by Leila E. Ross
August 18, 1938
It seems so unworthy to tell your worth,
For you are the very salt of the earth,
Messrs. Alexander, Thompson, Neil, Lewis and Kings,
We wish you the best of all good things.
You have shared our hardships, and our joys,
Grown friendly with our girls and boys;
You have killed mosquitoes, butterflies caught
And wonderful things with your hands have wrought.
We wish you “Godspeed” as home you go
Starting out on the good ship “CIMBOCO”;
May you find your loved ones happy and well,
Good news of our isle be able to tell.
But we hope that sometime soon you’ll come
Again, to visit our island home,
For we have grown so used to you, you know,
We shall very much miss you, when you go.
Aug. 10 to 15, third Storm, 2nd. Hurricane of 1938 passes close to Grand Cayman.
It strengthened into a hurricane as it passed just north of Jamaica and became a Category 2 storm while near Grand Cayman.
Return to the UK
Types and paratypes are held in South Kensington Natural History Museum, London, the Hope Department of Entomology, Oxford, London Zoo and American Zoos.
Aug. 31, 1938. Quote from The Telegraph, 31.8.38 under the heading GREEN TURTLES AND IGUANAS ‘Animals and reptiles rarely, if ever, seen in Europe, were landed in Liverpool today on the return, after a six month absence, of members of the Oxford University expedition to the Cayman Islands in the West Indies…….some of the specimens will shortly be seen at the London Zoo, which is to have the choice of the collection………’
The collection included 19 iguanas or spine lizards up to four feet in length, two green turtles, four hawksbill turtles, 16 land turtles, several lizards and land crabs, 27 black snakes and nine wood snakes as well as spiders, scorpions and centipedes.
LINKS:
1938 Oxford Expedition to the Cayman Islands pictures
1938 Oxford University Expedition – Gerald Thompson’s account
Butterflies of the Cayman Islands – Book
Butterflies of the Cayman Islands – List
Cayman Islands National Archive
Flora of the Cayman Islands by George R. Proctor 2012 – Book
Insect Fauna of Little Cayman – R.R. Askew 1975
Little Cayman is seldom mentioned in entomological literature. The 1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition spent thirteen days on the island and reports on the resulting collection deal with Odonata (Fraser, 1943), water-bugs (Hungerford, 1940), Nemoptera (Banks, 1941), cicadas (Davis, 1939), Carabidae (Darlington, 1947), Cerambycidae (Fisher, 1941, 1948), butterflies (Carpenter and Lewis, 1943) and Sphingidae (Jordan, 1940). During the 1975 expedition, insects of all orders were studied, over a period of about five weeks, and many additions will eventually be made to the island’s species list. At present, however, identification of the insects collected has, with the exception of the butterflies which have been considered separately, proceeded in the majority of cases as far as the family level. Application of the family names for the most part follows Borror and DeLong (1966). In this paper the general characteristics of the insect fauna are described.
The Cayman Islands Natural History and Biogeography
M.A. Brunt & J.E. Davies / Editors, 1994
Selected References:
Adams, C. Dennis 1972 Flowering Plants of Jamaica (Reader in Botany at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.
Bradley, P.E and Rey-Millet, Y-J. 2013 Birds of the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands National Archive
Cerambycidae of the World
https://apps2.cdfa.ca.gov/publicApps/plant/bycidDB/wdefault.asp
Kings, Wilfred September 1938 Report on the Botanical Collections from Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman
Lewis, C. Bernard, Photographic Collection 1938. Cayman Islands National Archive Accession No. 414 B.
Cayman Islands 2011 Biodiversity Snapshot
Cayman – Cornwall Connection
If your surname is Bodden, Bawden or Bowden …..
For more details, visit:
Historic Cayman
1655 Oliver Cromwell‘s grand Western Design, English joint army-navy force, sent Admiral Sir William Penn and General Robert Venables to capture the island of Hispaniola. They failed to take the city of Santo Domingo so they sailed on and captured Jamaica in May.
http://bcw-project.org/military/anglo-spanish-war/western-design
1656 – Jamaica – The Settlers from Nevis by S.A.G. Taylor p.15.
1656 Cromwell issued a proclamation in other colonies, inviting settlers for the new colony of JAMAICA. William BOWDEN, an early settler from Nevis (in the Eastern Caribbean), arrived in December with Major Luke Stokes, Governor of Nevis, in the Morant Bay area, St. Thomas, eastern Jamaica.
1657 Within three months, by March 1657, two-thirds of the 1600 settlers had died of fevers in the low-lying coastal area.
A – Z of Jamaican Heritage by Olive Senior (1985), p.26.
1656 Jamaica – Settlers from Nevis
1656 Jamaica, Settlers from Nevis
Bawden – Bowden – Bodden may have got to Nevis from Barbados.
Barbados
In the period 1640–60, the West Indies attracted over two-thirds of the total number of English emigrants to the Americas. By 1650 there were 44,000 settlers in the West Indies, as compared to 12,000 on the Chesapeake and 23,000 in New England.
Most English arrivals were indentured. After five years of labour, they were given “freedom dues” of about ₤10, usually in goods. (Before the mid-1630s, they also received 5 to 10 acres of land, but after that time the island filled and there was no more free land.)
Around the time of Cromwell a number of rebels and criminals were also transported there. Timothy Meads of Warwickshire was one of the rebels sent to Barbados at that time, before he received compensation for servitude of 1000 acres of land in North Carolina in 1666. Parish registers from the 1650s show, for the white population, four times as many deaths as marriages. The death rate was very high.
Early 18th. Century Isaac Bawden / Bowden / Bodden was probably one of several itinerant turtlers from Jamaica. He settled at East End, Grand Cayman, in the area called Old Isaacs on the George Gauld 1773 map.
1735 Nov.9 Isaac Bawden, mariner, married widow Sarah Lamar, both of Camanas, entry in Port Royal Church Parish Register. The ceremony was performed by Thomas Alves, Rector of Port Royal. (Hirst p.28)
1735 Nov.9
Benjamin Lock Bawden, born Dec. 17, 1730 and
William Price Bawden, born Nov. 11, 1732,
sons of Isaac Bawden and Sarah Lamar: their baptism was recorded as a separate entry in the same register.
The second son may have been the William Bodden Sr. who was to be a Caymanian Chief Magistrate until 1789 and the father of Governor Bodden, his namesake who served as Chief Magistrate until 1823.
(see Founded upon The Seas – A History of the Cayman Islands and Their People p.45-46)
1765 William EDEN from Devizes, Wiltshire, England (b.1737- d.1801), arrived in Grand Cayman from Jamaica.
1773 Gauld map on 1989 Cayman stamp
East End was marked as Old Isaacs on the 1773 Gauld map after
Isaac Bawden / Bowden / Bodden
Wrecks on the reef at East End, Grand Cayman, Feb. 15, 2002. The channel through the reef can be seen.
Bodden Town was Cayman’s first capital.
1773 George Gauld, a Royal Navy surveyor, renamed South Side Bodden Town, because there were so many people named Bodden living there. The population of Grand Cayman was about 450 people, half of whom lived in Bodden Town.
1802 Edward Corbet census – the population had doubled to 933.
Guard House, Bodden Town (May 6, 2012)
William Bodden (Governor Bodden I 1776-1789)
William Bodden (Governor Bodden II 1789-1823)
(see Founded upon The Seas – A History of the Cayman Islands and Their People p.45-46)
1789 April 23. At the Grand Camaynas, aged 67, Wm. Bodden, esq. chief magistrate of that island, the first known death notice of a settler, published in The Gentleman’s Magazine, London, 1789.
(Note: aged 67: it looks a though 6 has been written over a 5. If he was born Nov.11, 1732 (see above), and died on April 23, he would have been 56 when he died and it was the 7 that should have been overwritten as a 6.)
Mission House at Gun Square, Bodden Town.
There was no road between Bodden Town (the former capital) and East End until 1935.
East End road
Cayman Islands search for relatives of their Cornish forefathers
The Telegraph, April 6, 2017
Cayman Islanders hunt for descendants of their first settler who left Cornwall for the Caribbean paradise 450 years ago
Daily Mail, April 6, 2017
Cayman Reporter April 11, 2017
William EDEN from Devizes, Wiltshire, England
(b.1737- d.1801), arrived in Grand Cayman from Jamaica in 1765.
He married Dorothy Bodden in Savannah-la-Mar, Jamaica. They had 3 children.
1766 William Eden II, their first child, was born.
1773 Dorothy died.
William Eden’s second wife was Elizabeth “Bessy” Clark.
1780 Pedro St. James, a stone house, was built by William Eden at Great Pedro Point, Grand Cayman.
Pedro St. James
Photo c. 1910 George S.S. Hirst
Cayman Cicadas
Each island has its own endemic Cicada species –
Grand Cayman Cicada – Diceroprocta cleavesi
Little Cayman Cicada – Diceroprocta caymanensis
Cayman Brac Cicada – Diceroprocta ovata
Order: Hemiptera, Family: CICADIDAE
The species are morphologically very similar, differing principally in their colouration, and they are allied to D. biconia from Cuba.
Grand Cayman Cicada – Diceroprocta cleavesi
Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, Aug. 13, 2005
Cicadas are locally called ‘crickets’ . The male Cicadas’ ‘song’ is a high-pitched buzzing sound. Female Cicadas lay their eggs in the bark of a twig. When the eggs hatch, the nymphs drop to the ground. They burrow with their front legs, which are enlarged for tunneling, and they live underground, feeding on roots. When they are ready for their fifth and final molt, they dig their way out to the surface and climb a short distance on to a plant to which they anchors themselves. The winged adults emerge in July and August, leaving the empty nymph case attached to the plant.
Adult Cicada, just emerged from its nymph exoskeleton.
Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, Aug. 5, 2002.
Cicadas collected during the Cayman Islands by the Oxford University Biological Expedition of 1938
Davis, William T. 1939 Journal of the New York Entomological Society, vol. 47, no. 3, pages 207-213
Cayman Brac Cicada – Diceroprocta ovata
Photo: Wallace Platts, Cayman Brac, May 1, 2011.
Life Cycle
All cicada nymphs live in underground burrows, where they feed on xylem sap from roots of grasses, forbs, or woody plants. Xylem sap is low in nutrients, which helps account for the minimum duration of nymphal development being several years. All cicadas molt four times underground. When the last nymphal instar is ready to molt, it makes its way to the surface, climbs a short distance up a tree trunk or herb stem, anchors itself with its tarsal claws, molts for the fifth time, and becomes an adult. Its nymphal shell remains as evidence of its transition from a confined life underground to aerial freedom. Adult cicadas are strong fliers and visually alert. Most species spend their lives in trees, where males call, males and females mate, and females lay their eggs by inserting them into the woody tissue of small branches. Some cicadas feed on and lay eggs primarily in grasses and forbs. Adults regularly feed on xylem sap both by day and at night, but are short-lived, seldom living more than a few weeks.
Three empty Grand Cayman Cicada nymph exoskeletons on Wild White Beach Lily leaves (Hymenocallis latifolia) on the beach at Barkers National Park, West Bay, Aug. 7, 2011.
Cicada from Grand Cayman, Staten Island Museum
Type specimen – Diceroprocta cleavesi.
Caribbean Cicada Killer Wasp / Mangrove Giant – Sphecius hogardii
Family: CRABRONIDAE
Caribbean and Florida
Caribbean Cicada Killer Wasp / Mangrove Giant – Sphecius hogardii
Oxford University Cayman Islands Biological Expedition 1938 collected on Aug. 5, 1938 (5.VIII.1938) but was not identified at that time. This specimen is in the National Trust for the Cayman Islands Insectarium, collected in 1985.
Photo: Ann Stafford, June 26, 2012.
Cicada Killer Wasp – Sphecius hogardii Photo: Simon Barwick, Grand Cayman, June 15, 2012.
Unraveling a Wasp Mystery
National Trust for the Cayman Islands Newsletter, December, 2012
1938 Oxford University Expedition to the Cayman Islands
1938 Oxford University Expedition to the Cayman Islands – pictures
Improved Key to New World Species of Sphecius
(Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) C.W. Holliday and Coelho
Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 99(5): 793-798 (2006)
Prof. Chuck Holliday is now retired and has shut down his Cicada Killer Wasp website
10 Facts about Cicada Killer Wasps
Yes, these wasps kill cicadas1. it works like this:
-
- The adult female wasp will paralyze the cicada with her venomous sting.
- The wasp will carry the cicada to a burrow, where it will place the cicada.
- The wasp will lay an egg under the left or right second leg of the cicada.
- The egg hatches, and the larvae begins to eat the cicada, while taking care to keep it alive.
- Once the larvae has had its fill, it spins a cocoon, in which it will change into an adult wasp.
- Female wasps are able to predetermine the sex of their larvae.1 They must do this because it takes more females to create new generations of wasps, than it does males.
- Cicada Killer Wasps belong to the family Crabronidae Latreille, 1802; the tribe Bembicini Latreille, 1802 and the genus Sphecius Dahlbom, 1843 2. Crabronidae comes from the Latin word for hornet, Bembicini comes from the Greek word for buzzing insect, and Sphecius is from the Greek word for wasp.
- Not all Sphecius wasps in the world kill cicadas, but all Sphecius in the New World (the Americas) do 3.
- If you haven’t seen a Cicada Killer Wasp, they are large black and pale yellow wasps, and are often found carrying a cicada (see image on this page).
- Cicada Killer Wasps are often confused with European Wasps (Vespa crabro). European Wasps are a more vibrant yellow color, and feature more yellow than back. They also belong to an entirely different family of wasp: Vespidae.
- There are five species of Cicada Killer Wasps in the Americas……
S. hogardii, the Caribbean cicada killer, is found in Florida, and the Caribbean nations.
1975 Royal Society – CI Gov. Little Cayman Expedition
Joint Royal Society and Cayman Islands Government Expedition to Little Cayman in 1975, when the island was little known scientifically.
Team of scientists:
D.R. Stoddart (Cambridge): geomorphology, leader
R.R. Askew (Manchester): entomology
A.W. Diamond (Nairobi): orthnithology
M.E.C. Giglioli (George Town): marine studies and liaison
M.V. Hounsome (Manchester) land fauna other than insects
G.W. Potts (Plymouth: marine ecology
G.R. Proctor (Kingston): botany
C. Woodruffe (Cambridge): Mangroves (part-time)
2015 is the 40th. Anniversary of the 1975 Little Cayman Expedition (July and August).
Atoll Research Bulletin
241. Geography and Ecology of Little Cayman
Edited by D.R. Stoddart and M.E.C. Giglioli
Issued by The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. U.S.A.
March, 1980
241. Geography and Ecology of Little Cayman
Caribbean Sea
Little Cayman is the smallest of the three Cayman Islands, emergent sections of the Cayman Ridge along the northern margin of the Cayman Trench between the Sierra Maestra of Cuba and the coast of Belize. The Trench itself is 1700 km long, and has maximum depths south of the Cayman Islands of more than 6000 m. Little Cayman lies 230 km from Cabo Cruz, Cuba; the same distance from the nearest point of Jamaica; and 740 km from the mainland of Yucatan. The Caymans themselves are well separated from each other: Little Cayman is 117 km ENE from Grand Cayman, though only 7.5 km from Cayman Brac.
Cayman Islands
Little Cayman’s permanent population consisted of 18 people in 1975.
Little Cayman and Cayman Brac – the Sister Islands
(Acorn Publishing Co Ltd 2013)
David R. Stoddart (Cambridge): geomorphology, leader
David R. Stoddart
Little Cayman Atoll Research Bulletin No.241 1980
Atoll Research Bulletin March 1980. No. 241. Geography and Ecology of Little Cayman.
Edited by D.R. Stoddart and M.E.C. Giglioli
Issued by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
Little Cayman Scientific Survey 1980
Marco E.C. Giglioli (George Town): marine studies and liaison
Marco Giglioli
The Mosquito Research & Control Unit (MRCU) was established in 1965 when Marco Giglioli arrived from London with instructions ‘to establish a laboratory and conduct research with a view to advising the Cayman Government on suitable methods of control.’
Mosquito Research and Control Unit
Mosquito Research and Control Unit
G.W. Potts (Plymouth: marine ecology
George R. Proctor (Kingston): botany
George R. Proctor
Little Cayman Plants Proctor 1980
Michael V. Hounsome (Manchester) land fauna other than birds and insects
THE TERRESTRIAL FAUNA (EXCLUDING BIRDS AND INSECTS) OF LITTLE CAYMAN
Little Cayman Terrestrial Fauna Hounsome
Richard R. Askew (Manchester): entomology
R. R. Askew
Little Cayman is seldom mentioned in entomological literature. The 1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition spent thirteen days on the island and reports on the resulting collection deal with Odonata (Fraser, 1943), water-bugs (Hungerford, 1940), Nemoptera (Banks, 1941), cicadas (Davis, 1939), Carabidae (Darlington, 1947), Cerambycidae (Fisher, 1941, 1948), butterflies (Carpenter and Lewis, 1943) and Sphingidae (Jordan, 1940). During the 1975 expedition, insects of all orders were studied, over a period of about five weeks, and many additions will eventually be made to the island’s species list. At present, however, identification of the insects collected has, with the exception of the butterflies which have been considered separately, proceeded in the majority of cases as far as the family level. Application of the family names for the most part follows Borror and DeLong (1966). In this paper the general characteristics of the insect fauna are described.
Anthony W. Diamond (Nairobi): orthnithology
A. W. Diamond
Little Cayman Birds
Ecology and species turnover of the birds of Little Cayman
1980a Atoll Research bulletin 241: 141- 164
The Red-footed Booby colony on Little Cayman; size, structure and significance
1980b Atoll Research bulletin 241: 165 -170
Colin Woodruffe (Cambridge): Mangroves
Colin Woodroffe
BE OF GOOD CHEER MY WEARY READERS, FOR I HAVE ESPIED LAND
By David R. Stoddart
Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
Be of Good Cheer…..by David Stoddart
Cayman Islands Natural History and Biogeography
by Pat Shipman
extract:
….That’s how we learned about Cerion nanus, the rarest snail in the world. That’s a big claim for a little snail only about a centimeter long. Cerion is a common genus of air-breathing land snails in the West Indies and the Florida Keys. Different species within the genus either have no common name or are lumped together as “peanut snails” for their general shape. The most common species on Little Cayman, Cerion pannosum, is everywhere: on grasses, bushes and trees, and lying dead on the beach. The second species on Little Cayman, C. nanus, is a most uncommon snail. When we read about C. nanus in Mike Hounsome’s chapter on terrestrial invertebrates in The Cayman Islands, we were hooked. As a young man, Mike had participated in the joint Royal Society and Cayman Islands Government Expedition to Little Cayman in 1975, when the island was little known scientifically.
…Not only did Maynard conclude that Cerion nanus existed in a single, small population, he also found it almost exclusively on one plant species now known as Evolvulus squamosus. Also called the rockyplains dwarf morning glory, the species is patchily distributed on Little Cayman but also lives on many other Caribbean islands and in Florida. Maynard pronounced C. nanus “dwarfed to an extreme degree, from feeding on the pungent leaves of the plant described.” At only about half the length of C. pannosum, C. nanus seemed to compete with the larger, more ubiquitous snail.
Crab Bush – Evolvulus squamosus
Crab Bush – Evolvulus squamosus, Family: CONVOLVULACEAE, Endangered.
A knee-high, brushy shrub with minute leaves and white flowers. Little Cayman and the Bahamas.
It is the sole host of the diminutive land-snail, Cerion nanus, Critically Endangered Little Cayman endemic.
Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman (introduced from Little Cayman), June 9, 2002.
Flora of the Cayman Islands by George R. Proctor, 2012 p.541, Pl.51.
9. Cerion nanus (Maynard) (Mollusca: CERIONIDAE) on Little Cayman
by M.V. Hounsome and R.R. Askew
http://www.doe.ky/terrestrial/animals/snails/
Butterflies of the Cayman Islands 2008 by R.R. Askew and P.A. van B. Stafford
Butterflies of the Cayman Islands R.R. Askew and P.A. van B. Stafford
Butterflies of the Cayman Islands book
R. R. Askew and P. A. van B. Stafford
published by Apollo Books Nov. 2008, available locally at
National Trust for the Cayman Islands, Dart Family Park, South Church St, Grand Cayman – US$30.00 or CI$24.00,
and local book stores.
http://www.brill.com/butterflies-cayman-islands
FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS by George R. Proctor, 2nd. Edition 2012,
published by Royal Botanic Gardens, KEW, was launched on Oct. 22, 2012.
The book is available for purchase, price CI$30, at the National Trust for the Cayman Islands and local bookstores.
The Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac) support 415 native taxa
in a land area little over 100 square miles, 29 of which are uniquely Caymanian.
Accessible and informative, this field guide satisfies the needs of the professional botanist,
while providing the non-expert and eco-tourist with an attractive introduction to the unique endemic flora of the Cayman Islands.
724 pages | 400 color plates, 250 line drawings | 6 x 9 1/5 | © 2012
Flora Gallery:
A Photographic Guide to the BIRDS of the CAYMAN ISLANDS
by Patricia E. Bradley and Yves-Jacques Rey-Millet 2013
Mangrove Skipper – Phocides pigmalion,
R.R. Askew, Little Cayman, Jan. 23, 2008
Mangrove Skipper – Phocides pigmalion batabano, Family: HESPERIIDAE nectaring on Sea Lavender – Argusia gnaphalodes Family: BORAGINACEAE. This Mangrove Skipper subspecies is known from Andros in the Bahamas, Cuba, the Isle of Pines and Little Cayman. It has not been recorded on Grand Cayman or Cayman Brac. Photo: R.R. Askew, Little Cayman, Jan. 23, 2008. Butterflies of the Cayman Islands book, 2008 , by R. R. Askew and P. A. van B. Stafford, p.115.
caymannature 