today's Featured List/June 16, 2014
The palms native to the Caribbean are often seen as symbolically important, appearing on the coats of arms of several Caribbean nations and on the flag of the West Indies cricket team.
Most species either have a wide distribution which includes part of the Caribbean, or are endemic to the Greater Antilles. Of the islands in the Caribbean, Cuba has the most species of palm, followed by Hispaniola. The Windward and Leeward Islands have the fewest. The palm flora of Trinidad and Tobago consists primarily of species with a South American distribution. Three genera of palm are endemic to the Greater Antilles: Calyptronoma, Hemithrinax and Zombia. Although nearly ubiquitous in the region, the coconut is not native to the Caribbean. The Caribbean species in the genus Copernicia are all Greater Antillean endemics; two species are restricted to Hispaniola, while the others, such as C. glabrescens (pictured), are restricted to Cuba. (Full list...)
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