Vanderbilt'S Palo De Ramon

Description

Banara vanderbiltii is a rare species of plant in the willow family known by the common name palo de ramon. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where there are fewer than 20 known individuals left in the wild. At the time it was listed as an endangered species of the United States in 1987, there were only six plants remaining.This is an evergreen shrub which can grow up to 9 meters tall, bearing rough-textured hairy leaves up to 12 centimeters long by 4 wide.The flowers are yellow and have many stamens. The red-purple fruits provide food for birds, including the bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) and the western spindalis (Spindalis zena).