People like to say ‘monkey-no-climb’ because it’s such a fun
name. All trees on St. John with big thorns on their trunks tend to get thrown
into that category, even though there are no monkeys here.
Iguana-no-climb would make more sense as a name, since those
guys seem to be climbing around everywhere. There must be some types of thorns
that will deter even an iguana, despite its leathery skin and sharp claws.
I have been walking around in the woods recently to learn
more about the different types of local trees - as part of the Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship’s Tree Appreciation Project. I can tell you it’s really
creepy when you are peering up at the top of the tree trying to see what the
leaves look like and a dark blob of iguana gets nervous and drops down almost
of top of you.
Thorns, like claws, are a sign of power, warning you to keep
your distance. They likely evolved over millions of years to provide immobile
trees with defenses against large grazing animals, as well as smaller ones that
might want to eat their leaves and flowers. Animals that eat the fruits, like
monkeys, can actually help a tree propagate by spreading its seeds widely,
though maybe the tree would prefer to have them wait until the fruit falls onto
the ground.
While being careful not to get impaled during my excursions,
I have identified a few different types of large trees with thorns that people
might call ‘monkey-no-climb’:
This tree is distinctive because in addition to its thorns
it has impressive (sometimes huge) buttress roots as it grows older. When it
flowers, it produces a soft fluffy fiber in its seed pods, which was once used
as the stuffing for mattresses, and later life jackets. The flowers are smelly
and open at night to attract bats as pollinators. (For the pre-Columbian Taino
people, bats were associated with the spirits of the dead, so these trees were
treated with great respect.) This is the most easily visible of the thorny
trees - you can see examples by the road at the entrance to Caneel Bay, by the
water sports shack at Cinnamon Bay, and on the Reef Bay trail.
Sandbox (Hura crepitans)
This tree is native to tropical areas of North and South America
as well as the Caribbean. The ‘sandbox’ name refers to its tangerine-shaped
seed capsules, which were valued in colonial times as exotic boxes for holding
the sand that people used to blot the ink when they wrote letters. Despite this
‘civilized’ Victorian image, these trees tend to be hidden in forested areas on
St. John and are generally not very friendly. The capsules explode loudly when
they are ripe and shoot out the seeds like shrapnel – reportedly up to 300 feet
at 150 miles per hour. Besides having a thick layer of sharp thorns, they also
have toxic sap that was used in pre-colonial times for poisoning arrows – and
later for making tear gas.
Native to the Caribbean and northern South America, this
tree seems to thrive in higher elevations, and quickly grows very tall when it
gets enough light. The thorns are largest at the base of the tree, where a
grazing animal would make contact, and become smaller and sparser further up.
But interestingly, it also has small thorns on the backs of its leaves that
could deter upper level browsers. You can see one along the John Head Road past
the Catherineberg ruins, on the right in a small turnout as you drive towards
Cinnamon Bay.
I only recently noticed a few of these trees, in the
low-lying Fish Bay conservation land. They do not seem to have thrived there,
maybe because they have gotten flooded with salty water. They are generally
smaller than the related white prickles. According to Eleanor Gibney, the wood
is a very attractive yellow, and the roots were formerly used to make a yellow
dye. She also noted that researchers have isolated antibiotic compounds from
the thorny wood. Trees protect themselves with chemicals as well as thorns, and
in earlier times this one’s bark was used to treat people with colds, and as an
aesthetic.
For more information on the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship’s Tree Appreciation Project, you can go to the website http://uufstjohn.com/treeproject/ or the Facebook page ‘UUF Tree Appreciation Project St John VI’.
Photos by Gail Karlsson
