Yellow Poui
Yellow Poui or Ipé (Tabebuia serratifolia or Handroanthos serratifolia) in dazzling bloom is a familiar sight in the dry season on Lady Chancellor Hill as well as on most of the hillsides of the Northern range. This spectacular tree is a large, slow-growing, native forest tree, whose wood is prized for its beauty, its extreme durability, resistance to termite attack and even for fire resistance. Because of its durability, Yellow Poui is among the most popular and in-demand tropical hardwoods in the world, particularly for decking and boardwalks. Poui lumber may last as much as 5 times as long as teak. It has a Janka rating ( a measure of hardness of wood) of 3680 lbf, (compare teak at 1000 lbf).
The Pink Poui or Apamat, (Tabebuia pentaphylla aka Tababuia rosea) is a relative of the yellow, and rivals it in beauty of the blooming tree, as well as in the beauty of the wood. Both varieties of Poui require a distinct dry period before flowering. The bunches of pink trumpet-like flowers can vary from pale pink to magenta. The leaf is palmate with 5 leaflets. The fruit are long, slender and bean-like, and contain delicate winged seeds. Bark, flowers leaves and roots of the Pink Poui have been used in traditional medicine against a variety of ailments including cancer. The bark contains a compound called lapachol which has antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal and cytotoxic activity. Opinions differ as to whether the pink Poui tree is native to T&T – it probably isn’t, but it’s definitely here to stay!
Unripe Poui pod and dry seeds, palmate Poui leaf with 5 leaflets, and tiny pink Poui seedling germinating, Pink Poui inflorescence, Poui seeds.
Red-Tailed Squirrel
Our Trini squirrel is the Red-tailed Squirrel – Sciurus granatensis – and it is our only native squirrel. There are several individuals that frequent my garden, and help themselves to my fruit – whichever variety is in season. My squirrels are no doubt very happy that both the Caimite and the Sapodilla trees are currently covered in fruit. The squirrels occasionally descend from one tree and run across the ground to another, but more often, they stay in the trees, leaping from limb to limb, hanging upside down from the ends of branches and nibbling bites of fruit near the end of the stem. Eventually the fruit breaks off the stem, falls, and the squirrel moves on to the next sapodilla or caimite. All is not lost – my dogs, or visiting agouti, clear up the fallen fruit while the thriftless squirrel hurtles along to his next snack.
In our Conservation of Wildlife Act, squirrels are categorized, along with rats and mice, as vermin, and may be hunted and destroyed during any season, with or without a licence. Worse than this is the Trini penchant for trapping and keeping wild animals as pets. In veterinary practice, I have seen many a ‘pet’ squirrel, malnourished, scraggy and with bald patches. It is distressing to see a wild animal being forced to languish in captivity because of the ignorance of its captor.
Sapodillas and Caimites
Sapodillas (brown) and Caimites (purple) 
Cut caimites showing star shape 
Ripe and unripe purple variety caimite
Aside from producing a rather plain-looking, but absolutely delectable fruit, one of these trees is famous and unique for two very different reasons. The wood of the Sapodilla tree, (Manilkara sapota) is so durable and resistant to insect attack, that intact sapodilla wood beams have been found amid the ruins of temples in ancient Mayan cities. Since the Mayan civilization was in decline by about AD 900, these Sapodilla wood lintels have survived intact for more than one thousand years!
Early Central American peoples discovered another remarkable property of the Sapodilla tree. It could be tapped, and a gummy latex called chicle, extracted, collected and chewed, to quench thirst and stave off hunger. The Aztecs went further, and chewed chicle to freshen their breath. American entrepreneurs in the 1800’s imported Central American chicle, experimented with methods of processing it, and by the 1920’s the average American chewed 102 sticks of ‘gum’ per year! Unsustainable chicle harvesting methods threatened the sapodilla forests of Central America until cheaper synthetic substitutes became available. Luckily, we in Trinidad have no shortage of Sapodilla trees and we can have our fill of their fruit which are tasty and nutritious.
Sapodilla tree 
Sapodilla fruit 
Sapodilla – note latex on fruit
Caimite
The lesser known Caimite, (Chrysophyllum caimito) is a relative of the sapodilla, and both trees share some traits – one of these is the sticky sap that oozes from stem and fruit when the fruit is picked.The Caimite’s scientific name is derived from Greek words that mean ‘gold’ and ‘leaf’. If you are familiar with the Caimite tree, you will know how apt this name is. The tree is beautiful, with a straight trunk that can be 20 metres tall, and a dense crown. The leaves are glossy, green on the upper surface, with a distinctive golden or bronze colour on the underside – hence ‘gold leaf.’ (Beautiful sight on a windy day) I have two varieties of Caimite tree in my garden. One produces large green, apple-sized fruit, while the other produces a smaller, glossy purple fruit. Both are absolutely delicious. The caimite is also called a star fruit, and the reason for this becomes clear once you cut into the fruit. The seeds are embedded in the milky, white flesh in an unmistakable star shape! Like sapodillas, caimite are very nutritious – packed with carbs, vitamins, calcium and trace elements.
Ripe Caimite fruit 
Caimite – note the latex on the fruit
The Streak Lizard
Gonatodes vittatus, or the Streak Lizard, is a small, very common gecko in my garden. There are dozens of them around on paths, garden walls, rocks, and tree trunks. They seem active both during the day, and at night. The male has a bright, white stripe with a black border, and this stripe runs from his head to the tip of his tail. The female is spotted and has a faint stripe. Neither is longer than about 3 inches from snout to tip of tail. I’ve seen streak lizards eating ants, small beetles and spiders. One perplexing behaviour of these lizards, that I have noticed, is that they sometimes curl the tails over their backs in a very scorpion-like posture. There have been suggestions about the significance of this posture, but herpetologists are uncertain. I’ve definitely been put on my guard for an instant seeing a creature on the ground in scorpion pose, then quickly realizing that that the spurious scorpion is actually a tiny Streak Lizard.
Male Streak Lizard 
Male Streak Lizard
Silver Garden Orbweaver (Argiope argentata)
Silver Garden Orbweaver Argiope argentata I recently noticed this “noiseless, patient’ spider (Thanks, Walt Whitman) skilfully constructing a web on the outside of a window pane. I watched her over a period of a week or so, and marvelled at how rapidly she grew. Her web was large and beautiful and she lurked at the centre of it, head down, waiting for her ‘Food Drop’ (Trini equivalent of Uber Eats). One day, out of the blue, it seemed that her legs had doubled in length! But no, on closer inspection, I realized that she had embellished her web with a large ‘X’ shape, spun in white silk. The X, radiated outwards from the hub of the web. My Arachne sat superimposed over her silken X, and her legs appeared twice as long. I was mystified. I discovered that Orb Weaver Spiders adorn their webs with patterns of dense silk” which rejoice in the name ‘stabilimenta’.
Arachne, my silver garden orbweaver 
Arachne in a different light 
Spider ‘peongs’ (Trini word for ‘fans’ or ‘fanatics’) will have known about this, but I was very excited to learn it. I admit I’m a bit happy to find that even the arachnologists of the world are not certain of the function of these arresting silken structures. Theories abound, with erudite names like the predator–protection hypothesis and the prey-attraction hypothesis. I know my heart skipped a few beats when I thought Arachne’s legs had grown massively, and whether she viewed me as potential predator or prey, I would have left her well alone.
I’ll take my leave and see you in April!
Lady Chancellor Flora and fauna 