Believe it or not, Barbados experiences enough changes in weather and daylight hours to affect the bahaviour of plant life on the island. At this time of year when there are fewer hours of daylight, many trees lose their leaves, such as the Frangipani tree shown below. In a few weeks the same tree will be wearing an umbrella of spectacular flowers with a few leaves thrown in for good measure.
The Women’s Tongue Tree shown here is covered in brown seed pods. In a few weeks, these will be replaced by new leaves, and the tree will go from yellow/brown to bright green - quite a dramatic transformation.
Though January is, technically, part of the dry season, these changes are governed by the number of hours of daylight. If these same trees were growing in close proximity to a streetlight, the leaves would not drop off, and far fewer seed pods and flowers would be produced.
Many shrubs and trees are governed by the changing season - poinsettia, flamboyant, golden apple and plum are just a few.
If you’d like to read more about Barbados, please visit my other blog, Things Barbados.
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