West Indian Elm

Also known as Bay Cedar, Guácimo, Bastard Cedar, Caulote

West Indian elm thrives as a fast-growing pioneer tree in tropical dry forests and secondary woodlands, quickly colonizing disturbed clearings and pastures. Small, fragrant yellow-brown flowers give way to distinctive woody, knobby capsules that livestock and native wildlife consume and disperse. Its deeply fissured gray bark and fibrous inner layers have long supported traditional uses ranging from rural timber and cordage to live fencing across the Neotropics.