This month, defying COVID lockdown rules and regulations, the bloodwood trees, Croton gossypiifolius have their candle-like flowers out on display on the Chancellor hillside. Bloodwood is a common, small, native tree that has erect flowering spikes that bear small, white flowers. The tree has large, hairy three-lobed leaves, which turn bright orange before falling off. This tree has other local names – candle tree, bois sang (guess what! – this means blood wood, in French), and our Venezuelan neighbours call it sangre drago. If you are wondering why the fixation on blood, look at the photo below. If the wood is cut, a dark liquid sap which resembles blood, oozes to the surface. This sap or latex is said to be astringent and it really does look like blood!
BLOOMS
Large, showy blooms of the Cocrico bush brighten up both my garden and the Chancellor hillside at the moment. Cocrico bush has many aliases. It is variously called Senna bacillaris, Cassia fruticosa and Christmas bush. This is another small native tree with bunches of drooping, luxuriant, deep yellow flowers. Bumble bees are definitely among the pollinators – the Cocrico bush in my garden is always alive with them. I have never seen a Cocrico on or near the tree, but I’ll wait in hope. (The Cocrico drawing below is by Nadia Ramjattan of the Forestry Information Unit! http://biodiversity.gov.tt/home/image-gallery/category/2-art-by-nadya-ramjattan-forestry-information-unit.html)
My next highlighted wild plant on Lady Chancellor hillside is the Firecracker plant, Pitcairnia integrifolia, and it is a saxicolous bromeliad! What do you make of the word ‘saxicolous’? I had to look it up. If you speak Latin, (and I have to admit I don’t), the word is self explanatory. ‘Saxum’ means ‘rock’ and ‘colous’ means ‘living or growing on’. Most of the more familiar bromeliads are epiphytes that grow comfortably on trees or even electric wires and lamp posts. This remarkable saxicolous bromeliad can grow on BARE ROCK. Look out for the long, drooping, grass-like leaves overhanging the cliff face on your left as you walk up Lady Chancellor Road road. Be dazzled by the long, branched, scarlet clusters of flowers! This plant definitely rocks.
Some crazy arthropods
This beautiful spider with its stunning, iridescent green-accented, black exoskeleton, took me completely by surprise when, as I was admiring it, it sprang and vanished, reappearing about 2 feet away. It then calmly walked away, swaggering on hydraulic tiptoes, waving what looked like massive flexed biceps (but were actually its front legs). I believe it is a jumping spider and I’m wondering if it could be Thania bhamoensis. Any ideas? Thank goodness it is quite small – with that attitude and unpredictable Herculean leaps, if it were any larger, it would be truly intimidating.
The second arthropod I encountered, was determined to show me his true colours – above and below, as he (or was it she), posed elegantly on my bathroom mirror, showing me simultaneously his dashing vermillion necktie and his more sober ivory shirt as it peeked out from under his black coat. I debated his order, and after rejecting the blattodea and the hemiptera, I decided he might be a lepidopteran – a moth. After much searching, I found that he greatly resembles the red-necked footman which is a European and North Asian species, not recorded as a Trini insect. If any entomologists ever read my blog and see his photo, please set me straight!
My third January arthropod visitor was a mantid. At first glance, it looked as if a dry leaf had blown into my kitchen and had got stuck on an appliance wire, but no, perched on this cable in my kitchen, was a male, South American, Dead Leaf Mantis, aka Acanthops parafalcata. At his front end, this creature’s profile reminded me of a miniature horse’s head, his body looked exactly like a dried brown leaf, and he held his front two legs as if in quiet devotion. His apparent prayerful demeanour and his name (mantis: from a Greek word meaning soothsayer or prophet) belied his predatory tendencies. Or perhaps he was offering a prayer before mating. Among the mantids there is always the chance of a male being eaten by his partner. Weirdly, a male mantis’ body can continue mating even after his head has been consumed by his GF.
Lady Chancellor Flora and fauna 
Oooh, didn’t see the Frangipani Moth Update until this morning. 👍🏽 I didn’t realise the moths were so big. Maybe superimpose a scale on the photo of the moth? Or all critters, in future?
Your photos are very good. Especially liked the clump of peewah palms.
Pxxx
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Thanks. I will try to give an idea of size. I’m not too tech savvy so I’ll have to figure out how to superimpose a scale onto a photo. Thanks for the suggestion.
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