Most of us know that there are many flowers native to the Caribbean islands and mainland. We are probably not surprised that botanists and others have studied, listed, named, renamed, and catalogued thousands of Caribbean flowers, bestowing native taxa, endemic taxa, and numbering systems, beginning at least by the late 1600s and continuing today.

Okay, but what about the Caribbean flowers we want to see? I’ve picked three to admire, from top to bottom, below: yellow bells are the national flower of the Bahamas and Virgin Islands, claw crabs are evocative of island crabs, and red hibiscus is my favorite flower from my days living on St. Thomas.

“Wait!” You say.

How about the cattleya orchid, the purple waterlily, the bougainvillea, the anthurium, and especially the striped Barbados lily? Aren’t they just as beautiful? Yes, and many other flowers as well. There is an almost endless variety of beautiful flowers in the Caribbean.

Ah well, perhaps the best solution to seeing them all is simple and fun: a visit to the islands.

Bon voyage, and enjoy!