Poke-me-boy (Acacia anegadensis) is one of Anegada's threatened plant
species - read more about it

Anegada: Darwin Initiative Project makes exciting discoveries of new populations of threatened plants

The Darwin Initiative project on Anegada has been in full swing for the
past three weeks focussing mainly on mapping plant habitats and populations of Anegada's threatened plant species.

A major find has been the discovery of more populations of what is commonly known on Anegada as bulldog (Malpighia woodburyana). Prior to this fieldwork there were only two small populations of bulldog known on
Anegada, which comprised more that 50% of the world's population. The rest exist as small, scattered populations across the USVI and Puerto Rico.

With eight new populations discovered on Anegada the project has doubled the known global population of this important rare plant. It is also the first
time the plant has been recorded and collected in flower and fruit. The
common name bulldog refers to the nasty nature of the plant, which is
covered with fine irritating hairs that leap onto those unfortunate enough
to brush by.

The project continues to document the distribution of the other globally
threatened species known from Anegada. More populations of poke-me-boy
(Acacia anegadensis), black sage (Cordia rupicola) and a small sand dune
vine thought to have no common name (Metastelma anegadense) have been
documented. Everyone deserves a name and so the project involved the
younger school children of Anegada to find a common name for this plant
found nowhere else in the world. Through the diligent research of Sabrina
Smith, age 6, it was found that the plant actually has the common name wire
wist. All the names the children came up with were excellent although
Kysean Wheatley, age 5, (milky bay vine), Kia Soares, age 7, (white star
ivy), Nikaida Wheatley, age 9, (tropical sand belle) and Leanna Smith, age
10, (Anegada golden star) stood out from the rest, and along with Sabrina,
all received a prize from project staff.
The older children have also been involved in a plant uses in Anegada
writing competition and Stephanie Faulkner, age 15, received a prize for
her work entitled "Anegada Sea Grapes". Everybody can get to read
Stephanie's work as it will placed on the project website within the next
few weeks. The older children also got some first hand experience of the
rare plants and the threats that they are under on a recent field trip with
project staff. Project staff have also been busy contributing to the
Environments of the BVI programme at the H Lavity Stoutt Community College
by leading a recent field trip to Sage Mountain.
Research on the birds and turtles around Anegada continues. The bird
surveys have added six new species to the growing bird list for the island
and 27 additional turtles have been caught, tagged and released. A new
initiative has started to document the butterflies of Anegada and their
host plants. More information on the project can be accessed on the project
website www.seaturtle.org/mtrg/projects/anegada and the first project
newsletter is available online as well as from the National Parks Trust
office in Road Town, tel: 494-3904.