Tree Identifications

[mountainannie]

Can anyone give me a good reference source, preferably on line, preferably in English, where I can become familiar with the names and leaves and flowers of the trees here?

I know that we have a thread over on Spanish 101 which is closed, but that only gives the translations of names which does not help if one is starting out from, well, Oak, and Maple. and such.

It did have one really super reference of the sort I am referring to // of the Calabash, or Jacaranda Tree
Sausage Tree

which helped me a lot

i will peruse that site some more and see if I find others.

But I would appreciate it if others have pictures and names.

Ok, yes,I do know the flamboyant and the bougainvilla...

and perhaps a few others but it would not hurt to have a few links here...

[mountainannie]

this is much like the Schefflera outside my office window
I once kept its cousin in a pot

http://mgonline.com/media/Images/s/scheffleraf04.jpg

the Schefflera is also known as the Umbrella plant or the octopus tree

[mountainannie]

thanks to tamborista and tiny pixs!!

i LEARNED SOMETHING NEW

[mountainannie]

ok If I could get some help over here although maybe I am in the wrong forum,,, but what I would really like to do is post some pictures of plants and flowers and trees as I see them or find them and maybe get their names in English and then in Spanish? Because no one here in the Capital knows seems to know any of the names of the trees and there are some beautiful old trees and I was taught that it is only respectful to at least try to address them by name, as in Senor Oak, or Mme. Willow. So now that I have learned to do this, I will try to keep posting and if you see any sort of thing that is familiar, just shout out the local name, ok? And then I can teach some of the street kids who really do swear that they go to school but I am not sure just when that might be.
thanks so much..

[mountainannie]

the National Tree Seitenia Mahagoni known in English as West Indian or Cuban Mahagony is internationally protected. It is also the national tree of Belize and appears on their national seal.

[AlterEgo]

Originally Posted by mountainannie

the National Tree Seitenia Mahagoni known in English as West Indian or Cuban Mahagony is internationally protected. It is also the national tree of Belize and appears on their national seal.

Internationally protected - does that mean it can't be cut down? We have a huge mahogany tree on our property in DR that we were planning to get a permit to cut down and taken to the sawmill to be cut into planks for furniture, woodwork and doors. A Dominican friend of ours makes gorgeous furniture - he didn't seem to think there would be a problem.

Should we not bother to try to get a permit?

[Drake]

Correction - its actually the national flower and not the national tree. There is no national tree. Trujillo was crazy about Caobas and made it the national flower. The little white flower can be seen on all the Dominican bank notes. It looks like a little orchid. The south used to be covered by them until last century the US logging companies took almost all of them. Downtown New Orleans is actually built with a large portion of Dominican Mahogany.

[mountainannie]

Originally Posted by AlterEgo

Internationally protected - does that mean it can't be cut down? We have a huge mahogany tree on our property in DR that we were planning to get a permit to cut down and taken to the sawmill to be cut into planks for furniture, woodwork and doors. A Dominican friend of ours makes gorgeous furniture - he didn't seem to think there would be a problem.

Should we not bother to try to get a permit?

check wiki under both the mahagony listing and CITES, yes it is internationally listed as a protected species. Which does not mean that you could not get a permit here in the DR. But yes, it is internationally a protected species on the endangered species list so now you know and it cannot be undone.

[AlterEgo]

Originally Posted by mountainannie

check wiki under both the mahagony listing and CITES, yes it is internationally listed as a protected species. Which does not mean that you could not get a permit here in the DR. But yes, it is internationally a protected species on the endangered species list so now you know and it cannot be undone.

Thanks for the info, I'll now think twice before cutting that tree down.

On another note - there is a massive mango tree on the same property, and we were told it, too, would make nice furniture. (It's so old that it doesn't produce many mangoes anymore, and the ones it does grow are so high up no one can reach them) I checked it out on the web and was surprised to find Mango Wood furniture and things like bowls, but mostly out of Asia. Anyone ever hear of Mango Wood furniture being made in DR? From what I read, it's vulnerable to a fungus and needs to be treated before being made into anything.

[mountainannie]

Originally Posted by Drake

Correction - its actually the national flower and not the national tree. There is no national tree. Trujillo was crazy about Caobas and made it the national flower. The little white flower can be seen on all the Dominican bank notes. It looks like a little orchid. The south used to be covered by them until last century the US logging companies took almost all of them. Downtown New Orleans is actually built with a large portion of Dominican Mahogany.

i am sorry about that

really

but i am sure that at the time, everyone thought it was a really really good idea

and, if there had been a project to say, well, REPLANT the mahagony trees that grew there, then, well, we might have another crop to sell now and they would not be on the endangered species list

but perhaps it is not too late?

not that I know a thing about how to grow a mahagony tree

or
birthin babies