A wonder of nature - Dominican Republic

The island of Hispaniola has the highest biodiversity in the Caribbean. Put less scientifically, here you will find such a wide variety of plants and animals as nowhere else in the Caribbean.

For Haiti, the western part of the island, this is no longer true, but certainly for the Dominican Republic. 5600 different plant species are known here.

At least 1800 of these plants are endemic - that is, they occur only on the island of Hispaniola and nowhere else. But many are endangered; the botanists are worried.

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The Jagua belongs among the plants that are typical of the Dominican Republic. The tree grows up to 14 m high, has good wood and pleasant fruits that are up to twelve inches long and oval. They have a sweetish tart taste; you eat them raw or make juice from them. In markets one finds the Jagua fruit often; the local population values ​​them as medicine for anemia and liver problems.

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The fruits have a calming effect on the nerves

The Calmito or Star Apple is a tree that is up to 15 m high. The leaves are coppery on the underside, the blue or yellow fruits are similar to the passion fruit. They are sweet and you eat them raw; they are very popular with the Dominicans because they have a calming effect on the nerves. You can buy them everywhere.

The guava becomes a tree up to eight meters high, which grows everywhere in the country. As firewood it is much appreciated. Its fruits are bought raw or as jam.

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They have eight times more vitamin C than oranges.

The spices that are common in the Dominican Republic include bija, allspice and ozua. Bija is extracted from the fruit seeds of the Bija tree. The seeds are red, they are often used as a natural food colorant; They are offered as powders everywhere in the country. Allspice are the leaves of the Canelilla shrub; It is used as a medicinal herb in flu and also in tea. They are strongly aromatic and are sold, dried and sold a lot. Finally, there are the leaves of the Ozua tree, known as ‘Bay Rum’. They taste very much like limes. Their oil is mixed with Trementin, which is obtained from pine resin, offered in many shops on the island.

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 Even without special botanical interests, you can enjoy the mahogany trees, the magnolias in the mountainous regions, the orchids or the more than twenty palm trees in the Dominican Republic.

There are a number of interesting botanical gardens, including the Jardin Botanico in Santo Domingo, and large national parks such as nature reserves.

When dealing with plants you are very hard-working in some areas. If you drive into the Cibao Valley (reached in a day trip from Puerto Plata) or in the area of ​​Constanza (which, however, is far away from any tourist hotel), you will see the effort that has been made for many years with a variety of cultivation methods.

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Even in many regions where tourist hotels are located, interesting plants can be observed. In the beach areas of the Puerto Plata region, the sea shrub grows: a tree whose fruits are edible.

Otherwise - as everywhere in the Caribbean - the mahogany tree is widespread.

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The vegetation is typically Caribbean

Also on the peninsula Samana the vegetation is typically Caribbean. On the offshore island of Cayo Levantado (southeast of Samana) huge fig trees grow. Punta Cana in the far east, one of the most interesting tourist areas of the Dominican Republic, gets its name from a plant: the cana palm (in English: umbrella palm). This species occurs only on Hispaniola. Their leaves are mainly used for roofing. In many hotels, in the restaurants or lounges, you can see these leaves as jewelry; they look very decorative.

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In addition, Punta Cana is located in a mangrove zone. The country has more than 200 square kilometers of mangrove forests, made up of four tree species: red mangrove (it grows up to 30 meters high, grows in deeper waters and also has roots above the waterline to support itself in soil and water movements), dark and white mangrove (in shallow waters) as well as the button mangrove (mostly in dry areas with sandy soil).

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Mangroves are among the most productive forests of the tropics. They can produce up to eight times more humus than any cornfield. In the Dominican Republic, they provide breeding grounds for 38 species of crabs and crabs as well as 50 species of fish. In addition, more than 30 species of birds live in these forests. Even otherwise, the mangroves are ecologically very important: they protect the mainland and are water filters for the sea.