The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles starting with Cuba, to the east by the Lesser Antilles, and to the south by the northern coast of South America. The Gulf of Mexico lies to the northwest.
The Greater Antilles is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands. Six island states share the region of the Greater Antilles, with Haiti and the Dominican Republic sharing the island of Hispaniola. Together with the Lesser Antilles, they make up the Antilles.
Sapium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is widespread across most of Latin America and the West Indies. Many Old World species were formerly included in the genus, but recent authors have redistributed all the Old World species into other genera.
Pimenta is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae described as a genus in 1821. It is native to Central and South America, Mexico, and the West Indies.
The Greater Antillean grackle is a grackle found throughout the Greater Antilles as well as smaller, nearby islands. Like all Quiscalus grackles, it is a rather large, gregarious bird. It lives largely in heavily settled areas. It is also known as the 'kling-kling' and 'chinchilín' in the Dominican Republic, as a 'Ching Ching' in the Cayman Island and as a ‘chango’ in Puerto Rico.
Spondias dulcis, known commonly as ambarella (ඇඹරැල්ලා) in Sri Lanka or June plum, is an equatorial or tropical tree, with edible fruit containing a fibrous pit. In the English speaking Caribbean it is typically known as golden apple and elsewhere in the Caribbean as pommecythere or cythere. In Polynesia it is known as wi.
Koanophyllon is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae. They are perennials and shrubs and are native to South America, Central America, the West Indies, Mexico, with a few species range extending into the United States. The flowers are white to pinkish.
Juglans jamaicensis, the West Indian walnut, nogal, or palo de nuez, is a species of walnut in the Juglandaceae family. It is found in Cuba, [[Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. It is not, in fact, native to Jamaica, as its name would suggest.
Marcgravia is a genus of plants in the Marcgraviaceae family commonly eaten by the dwarf little fruit bat. The genus is native to the Caribbean Islands, Central America, and South America, and genus is named in memory of the German naturalist Georg Marcgraf. The plant is visited by Thomas's nectar bat.
Zanthoxylum flavum is a medium-sized tree in the family Rutaceae. Common names include noyer, West Indian satinwood, yellow sanders, tembetaria, and yellow sandalwood. It is native to Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the Florida Keys, exclusive of Key West where it has been extirpated. It is threatened by habitat loss and harvesting for its dense, durable wood used in fine woodworking.
The Caribbean bioregion is a biogeographic region that includes the islands of the Caribbean Sea and nearby Atlantic islands, which share a fauna, flora and mycobiota distinct from surrounding bioregions.
Dendrophylax is a genus of leafless neotropical orchids native to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and Florida. The name is from Greek δένδρον ("tree") and φύλαξ. One species, Dendrophylax lindenii, featured heavily in the book The Orchid Thief.
Metopium brownei is a species of plant in the family Anacardiaceae.
Guazuma ulmifolia, commonly known as West Indian elm or bay cedar, is a medium-sized tree normally found in pastures and disturbed forests. This flowering plant from the family Malvaceae grows up to 30m in height and 30–40cm in diameter. It is widely found in areas such as the Caribbean, South America, Central America and Mexico serving several uses that vary from its value in carpentry to its utility in medicine.
Poison ivy is a type of allergenic plant in the genus Toxicodendron native to Asia and North America. Formerly considered a single species, Toxicodendron radicans, poison ivies are now generally treated as a complex of three separate species: Toxicodendron radicans, Toxicodendron rydbergii, and Toxicodendron orientale. They are well known for causing urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, an itchy, irritating, and sometimes painful rash, in most people who touch it. The rash is caused by urushiol, a clear liquid compound in the plant's sap. They are variable in appearance and habit, and despite its common name, it is not a "true" ivy (Hedera), but rather a member of the cashew and pistachio family (Anacardiaceae). T. radicans is commonly eaten by many animals, and the seeds are consumed by birds, but poison ivy is most often thought of as an unwelcome weed.
Catesbaea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It occurs in the West Indies, The Bahamas, and the Florida Keys. The genus is named in honour of English naturalist Mark Catesby.
Terminalia buceras is a tree in the Combretaceae family. It is known by a variety of names in English, including bullet tree, black olive tree, gregorywood, Antigua whitewood, and oxhorn bucida. It is native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It is commonly found in coastal swamps and wet inland forests in low elevations.
Brunellia comocladifolia, commonly known as the West Indian sumac, is a species of tree in the family Brunelliaceae. It is native to Central America, the West Indies, and northern South America.
Consolea moniliformis is a species of cactus that is native to the Greater Antilles, on Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico.
