A small twig from Ile a Vache Haiti now grows in my Florida yard

MAHOT LA MER

Greetings readers,

When on a trip to Haiti sometimes back I was having a conversation with a native about the usefulness of plants, many specimen were brought to my hotel room gallery. One specific weak 'twig' buried in dirt caught my attention for its many attributes but I did not remember its name.

I planted it and it kept growing...I NEVER knew it flowered. To my surprise two weeks ago buds were showing. I wondered what they would be like-and behold a beautiful flower a few days later. Still I was curious to find its name. Although it appeared like a cotton, okra and hibiscus---it was rare to see a hibiscus like flower on a TREE.

I kept asking around and this morning via email a friend in Haiti---Mimi sent me a name.
And-I am now happy to have not only a name to my tree but many more info that I find-fascinating.

Indeed--- Thanks Mimi!


http://www.da-academy.org/dagardens_mahot_lamer5a.html

The link info are as followed:

Plant Family: Belongs to the Malvaceae or Hibiscus family, which includes the many varieties of the popular Hibiscus flower (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), the edible Okra (Hibiscus esculentus), and Sea Island Cotton (Gossypium barbadense).

Description: Small, hardy, spreading, evergreen shrub or tree, up to 12 m tall (40 ft); leaves heart-shaped, shiny and alternate, blade up to 22 cm long (8 in) and 11 cm broad (4 in); flowers solitary and axillary, funnel-shaped and showy, 5-8 cm long (2-3 in) and up to 8 cm across (3 in), yellow becoming purple with age, with red or purple base inside petals; fruit depressed-globose, 3-4 cm broad (1.2-1.6 in), faintly 5-angled, with yellow sap; flowering and fruiting intermittently throughout year.

Natural Habitat: Tropical coastal regions on sandy or gravelly shores and at mangrove margins; especially suited to sea coasts; propagation by cuttings and seed; fruit and seed buoyant and adapted to long-distance dispersal by tides and ocean currents.

Origin and Distribution: Native of old World tropics; and now found in coastal regions throughout tropics and sub-tropics; naturalised in Florida and West Indies; in Dominica, found at Cabrits and Pointe Round.

Uses: As specimen ornamental, and in medians and parking lots; tough fibrous bark used for rope and caulk for boats; wood is oily and makes highly polished timber, but makes only small items since wood is often twisted and rarely found in large pieces; yellow dye obtained from fruit; medicinally, several plant parts used: ground up bark to treat skin diseases, dysentery and hemorrhoids; leaves applied to inflamed and swollen joints; sap of young fruit to treat ringworm and other skin diseases; roots for making a tonic; in Dominica, leaves soaked in Castor oil and applied to open ulcers; there is some modern investigation of the plant's effects on high blood pressure.

Indigenous Legends: Tahitians considered the tree sacred and grew it near places of worship.

End of quoted text-

AMAZING INDEED...that one tree has all these potential and many are still living careless of nature around them?

As for me, daily I am grateful for every bit of living things in my surroundings...close and far.

Kafe