El Yunque National Forest

Kids Page

RAIN FOREST FLORA FACTS

Sylvester has put together these Rain Forest FLORA FACTS
for your enjoyment!

Check-out the stories and pictures of fascinating trees, ferns
and plants that live in El Yunque, the El Yunque National Forest.

E-mail your favorite Rain Forest FLORA FACTS to your friends; or print copies
to use when you do a class project about a rain forest! Be sure and bring your collection
of Rain Forest FLORA FACTS with you when you come to visit the El Yunque National Forest
so you can quickly identify your favorite Trees, ferns or plants when you are hiking
our exciting Nature Trails!

Sylvester will be adding new and different Rain forest FLORA FACTS from
time-to-time, so be sure to check this page
often so you can discover what’s new.

Tree-fern (Eng.),
Helecho Gigante (Sp.),
Cyathea arborea (bot.), (native).

Description: This beautiful, small evergreen tree can grow
to 30 feet (9 meters) in height, with a 3 to 5 inch (7.6 to 12.5 cm)
trunk and a crown of ten or more graceful, spreading fern leaves.
The trunk is spineless, with a hard outer layer, and a soft,
white pithy inner layer. Tree ferns are found in low land and
upper montane forests throughout the West Indies growing
as a small understory tree.

Fun Fact: The Carib Indians used hollowed-out trunk sections to
preserve and carry live fire coals, maintaining it
for hours without smoke or flame.

Sugar Cane (Eng.),
Caña de Azúcar (Sp.),
Saccharum officinarum (bot.),
Exotic; India.

Description: Sugar cane is a tall perennial grass with thick
stems and long broad leaves. This native of tropical
Southeast Asia, unlike other grasses does not produce seeds or
fruits. In fact sugar cane grass is valued for its cane-like stem and
sets few or no seeds. Sugar cane is widely cultivated in the tropics
and warmer regions of the world as a source of sugar, rum, alcohol and molasses.

At maturity, sugar sap accumulated in the pith cells of the cane stalk contain about 15% sucrose.

Fun Fact: In prehistoric times humans discovered that by chewing the stems
they could obtain a sweet juice, as they still do in many places. Sugar cane stalks
are used to make plastics, fuel and cattle food.