Snake
Wood - Colubrina arborescens - "This is a very rare tree in the
Cayman Islands, with only a few scattered individuals on Grand Cayman. It can be found in the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic
Park, and in the fast disappearing natural woodlands of southern George Town.
The hanging leaves
are soft textured, with rich reddish brown "fur" on the young stems and on the midvein of the underside of the leaves. The
tree grows straight, and produces slightly rising branches that tend to grow all at a similar angle to the trunk. The bark
is grey, with spreading vertical cracks. In older specimens it sheds thin woody flakes. The flowers are yellowish green and
not particularly conspicuous, developing into dry seed pods which disintegrate slowly to release hard, glossy black seeds.
Scattered
through the West Indies, Snake Wood also grows wild fromMexico to Honduras, in Florida, and in the Bahamas."
from "Wild Trees
in the Cayman Islands" by Fred Burton
In researching
about the Snake Wood the John Gray Recyclers found that this tree is an endangered species in Florida, USA.
