TITLE: FLOWERS OF THE CARIBBEAN
AUTHORS: BRUNO FOGGI (TEXT)/ANDREA INNOCENTI (PHOTOS)
REVIEWED BY: BALFORD HENRY
ATTEMPTS at looking at the Caribbean as a monolithic region often fail, mainly because of the dissimilarities we seem to cherish as distinguishing features. But, when it comes to flowers! Now that's a totally different matter: We all wish for technicolor harmony.
Flowers should ideally contribute to our integration. But, despite all the federal values of regional flowers, their history is also intricately woven into our geographical and political differences. These historical and cultural paradoxes of biodiversity exposed make it much more than just a book about flowers, it is a genuine collector's item.
"Precise geographic, climatic and historical conditions have determined great variety in the typical flora of these islands: there are innumerable wild species throughout the islands, from the coasts to the forests of the interior, which today are in large natural parks, and many exotic species introduced at different times in history following the European 'discovery' of the archipelago in the late 1400s," we are informed.
Stages
The genesis of the flora specific to the Caribbean region is addressed in three successive stages. The first coinciding with the formation of an independent continental plate, midway through the Jurassic period (195-135 million years ago), known as the "Caribbean plate phase". Next is the "land bridge phase" which began in the late Oligocene period (37 to 24 million years ago), during which the Antilles were linked to neighbouring land, like the Yucatan peninsula and North and South America. With the islands, as we know them today, mostly formed by the late Miocene epoch (24-5 million years ago) came the last and most recent phase, the "archipelago phase."
The tendency towards insularity, however, won out assuming specific connotations, differentiating the single islands and the genera present on each of them. The development of peculiar floras was a result of both of isolation and of environmental pressure."
Today, the Caribbean islands are one of the most important areas in terms of preserved biodiversity: An archipelago boasting about 13,000 plant species.
One of the things which should also interest you about the book, is the way plants we usually take for granted assume ornamental ascendancy.
We know, for example, that the Tamarind, a native of tropical Africa, can grow up to 30 metres in size and four metres in diameter, showing off "its tall, graceful trunk and dense rounded crown." But, how much attention do we pay to its "small yellow flowers" and "bipinnate" leaves and that it is anative of Cape Town, South Africa, where it primarily decorates gardens with its "brilliantly coloured leaves (which) contrast pleasingly with the dark green of the crown."
Unisexuality
Check the unisexuality of plants like the banana and the breadfruit, with male flowers above and female flowers below arranged in spiciform inflorescences enveloped by bracts.
When Captain Bligh brought the ackee trees to Jamaica, primarily to feed hungry slaves, did he take into consideration their high ornamental values.
The book explores diverse topics include the sources of this biodiversity, like mangrove forests, savannahs, sandy and rocky coasts as well as the usual in Jamaican gardens or lush countryside.
This is a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in increasing, not only their knowledge of our ornamental culture, but also the intriguing history which supports it.
Published by: Casa Editrice Bonechi/Lmh Publishing
