Vacation Chairs?	Beach across the street	Bahamas bar

The flora of the Bahamas

The Bahamas is a country that consists of more than 700 islands. The specialty of the country is that it is rich in flora and fauna, but enriched fauna of the area attracts tourists from several countries. The Bahamas flora is to some extend similar to that of the Cuba's and Florida's, but factors like high temperature, more rainfall and limestone type soil gives the native species a different look and characteristics.

Here you will find more than 1200 species of flowers of which more than 10% are endemic. Other important facts about The Bahamas' flora are that about 120 species found here are unique and not found in any other countries.

The Bahamas flora includes several large trees like:

• Horseflesh
• Mahogany
• Red Cedar
• Sea Grape
• Pine
• Hog Cabbage Palm
• Yellow Elder and others

These native species (with both medicinal and commercial values) are protected under particular acts. In The Bahamas one can see a collection of other species like shrubs, mangroves, palms, along with a few invasive and exotic species.

The shrubs and the invasive species have bold colors that perfectly match with the country's physical appearance and soothe the eye of a viewer. Flowers like Lilly, Hibiscus, etc have strange aromas, along with that a bold look. This bounds one to come closer to the flowers and to enjoy their organic beauty.

However, The Bahamas flora is not only praised for its beauty, but also for its medical and healing capacity. Trees like the Sea grapes, Coconut palms and the mangroves have some special features that can easily heal several day-to-day ailments. Here we will discuss in brief how these trees are useful to us.

The Mangrove

In The Bahamas one can discover two particular species of mangrove, which have been categorized as Red Mangrove and Black Mangrove. Surprisingly, both the species come with some anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and skin-healing properties and that is why their roots, bulks and other parts are used widely to prepare medicines.

The Sea Grapes

This tree has a strange look because its leaves are just like eucalyptus, but the fruits look like traditional grapes. Sea grapes are used in chocolates and to prepare other deserts. However, the maximum use of the Bahamas sea grapes is noticed in skin care cosmetics because it is an antioxidant. The natives also eat raw sea grapes to relieve an upset stomach.

Coconut

This is a quite common species of the Bahamas, which have some mentionable beauty and benefits. Oil extracted from the coconut is used both in skin and hair care products and in medicinal products as well. This oil has both antibacterial and anti-fungal properties and is also regarded as a natural moisturizer. Coconut water is a natural hydrator as it comes with abundance of electrolytes. This is the reason that coconut water is used to prepare special sport drinks.

Other Species with Medicinal Value

Some invasive species of the Bahamas like the Bottlebrush, the Brazilian pepper amd the Ink Berry are also in high demand as they include some potent medicinal properties. Brazilian pepper, for example is found in the coastal dense forests of the Bahamas and this is used to heal allergy, rashes and other skin ailments. However, it is not a native species of the Bahamas. Bottlebrush on the other hand is an Australian species found in the Bahamas and its leaves are used to prepare herbal tea. Especially, leaves of the Lemon bottlebrush and Callistemon lancelets are used widely for this purpose. The leaves are soaked in sunlight for 6 months or 1 year maximum and then are used for making tea.

Edible Fruits (Wild) of the Bahamas

A huge amount of edible fruits is collected every year from the wild trees of the the Bahamas Island. Some portion of this collection is preserved for the country people and the rest is exported to earn foreign currency. The fruits are:

• Coco Plum
• Sea Grape
• Sapodilla
• Custard Apple
• Guana Berry
• Saffron
• Guava
• Soursop
• Mamey Sapote

The native people also cultivate some special backyard fruits like Mango, Breadfruit, Gooseberry, Hog Plum, Sacred Plum, Indian Jujube and others.

For The Tourists

Eleuthera Preserve is a special reserve in the Bahamas that features more than 170 Bahamian species including herbs, shrubs and trees. It has been developed especially to help the tourists know about the country flora in detail. There you cab see a special plot that preserves the plants with commercial and medicinal value. Visitors move through the Bahamas mangrove and gradually enter the native coppice to observe all the species closely.

The Poisonous Flora

The Bahamas Islands have some poisonous species, along with those special ones. Poisonwood that belongs to the sumac family is referred as a poisonous species. Tress like Mango, Pistachio and cashew belong to this group. However, the poison is found in the stem of these trees and not in the fruits. If someone comes in contact with the stems, he or she can experience some serious skin rashes.