The Hunt For "Dendropemon Caymanensis"

The Cayman Islands Department of Environment (DoE) are currently collaborating on a project with longtime partner Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (RGB Kew), UK, to locate a mysterious Mistletoe species – Dendropemon caymanensis – known to be located only on Little Cayman.

There is very little known about this parasitic plant but records from botanist George Proctor, author of Flora of the Cayman Islands, indicate that it is possibly located within the northeastern interior of Little Cayman and is a parasite of the Headache Bush (Capparis cynophallophora) and the Black Candlewood (Erithalis fruticosa). No one has seen this plant since 1991 and there is no photographic record – just a single herbarium collection as proof of its existence.