Cayman Ironwood tree

Ironwood Chionanthus caymanensis Stearn, Bot. Notiser 132:58 (1979)  

OLEACEAE Olive Family

Cayman Islands endemic, Endangered tree
FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS by George R. Proctor, 2012, published by Kew p.595, Fig.221, Pl.58 
Wild Trees in the Cayman Islands BY Fred Burton, illustrated by Penny Clifford, 2007, p.144/220

Threatened Plants of the Cayman Islands The Red List by Frederic J. Burton, 2008, p.49

There are many plants around the world with the common name ‘Ironwood’, but Chionanthus caymanensis, the tree called Ironwood in the Cayman Islands is endemic – it grows only on Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac and nowhere else in the world, in rocky woodlands, close to a fresh water table. 

Ironwood tree and Banana Orchid (Myrmecophila thomsoniana var. thomsoniana), 
two Cayman endemics.

Photo: Ann Stafford, Lower Valley forest, Jan.13, 2002

Grand Cayman Nature Tours

Cayman Islands Ironwood grows to 10 m tall.

Ironwood tree with Old George (Hohenbergia caymanensis), a giant Bromeliad, 
growing in its branches, in a George Town garden. Both are Cayman endemics.

Photo: Ann Stafford, Aug. 23, 2002.

Cayman Islands ENDEMICS pictures
Plants and creatures

The leaves are arranged in exactly OPPOSITE pairs. 

Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, Nov. 13,2006.

The flowers are small, fragrant and white in many-flowered panicles. 

Ironwood in bloom in a George Town garden.

Photo: Ann Stafford, May 1, 2011.

Many-flowered panicle.

Photo: Ann Stafford, George Town garden, Grand Cayman, May 1, 2011.

 Ironwood flowers and leaves from a George Town garden.

Ann Stafford's Virtual Herbarium, May 1, 2011.

Cayman Virtual HERBARIUM images 

The fruits, purple when ripe, are an oval drupe and are eaten by birds and rock iguanas.

Cayman’s Ironwood is a culturally significant tree.   

 Cousin Cora's Cottage, Boggy Sand Road, West Bay.  
The original one room wattle-and-daub house was built in 1913, with Ironwood posts and Silver Thatch roof. It was the home of Captain McLaren Henning, his wife Cora and their six children.

Photo: Lorna McCubbin, 1998

Cousin Cora's Cottage, made of wattle and daub with ironwood posts,

Boggy Sand Road, West Bay.

Photo: Lorna McCubbin, 1998

Cousin Cora's Cottage showing wattle and daub interior with ironwood posts,

Boggy Sand Road, West Bay.

Photo: Lorna McCubbin, 1998

The heavy wood is very hard, strong, termite and water-rot resistant, not inclined to warp. It was traditionally used for the foundation posts of houses.

 Lorna McCubbin in her wattle-and-daub house,Cousin Cora's Cottage

Photo: Ann Stafford, Boggy Sand Road, West Bay, Jan.19, 2003

Ironwood post base.

Photo: Ann Stafford,Jan.19, 2003

Cayman CULTURAL pictures
Step-wells, traditional buildings, games, arts and crafts, house-shaped grave markers, ships, Cayman catboats, monuments, maps, stamps, Hell and more.

 

 A young Ironwood tree was planted in George Town.

Photo: Ann Stafford, Feb.22, 2004

Ironwood - living fence post, Grand Cayman.

Photo: Ann Stafford, July 31, 2006

Ironwood - Chionanthus caymanensis is the predominant tree in the Ironwood Forest,

George Town, Grand Cayman. 

University College of the Cayman Islands hall has white roof (mid-right).

Photo: Lois Blumenthal, June 2007.

Ironwood Forest - pictures and maps 

 Ironwood - Chionanthus caymanensis, Endangered endemic,
is the predominant tree in the Ironwood Forest.
Old George - Hohenbergia caymanensis, 
a Critically Endangered Grand Cayman endemic giant Bromeliad,
grows on the pinnacle rock and up in the trees.
Photo: Ann Stafford, Sept.11, 2005.

Ironwood with Resurrection Fern - Polypodium polypodioides growing on the trunk.
Photo: Ann Stafford, Oct.9, 2005

CaymANNature FLORA 

Pictures of Cayman Islands plants

Endangered Ironwood with other native trees in a George Town garden,
Mahogany - Swietenia mahagoni Endangered, Spanish Elm - Cordia gerascanthus Endangered, Broadleaf - Cordia sebestena var. caymanensis Vulnerable, Popnut - Thespesia populnea Endangered, Silver Thatch - Coccothrinax proctorii Endangered, Bull Hoof - Bauhinia divaricata and Burn Nose - Daphnopsis americana Critically Endangered.

Photo: Ann Stafford, March 5, 2012.

Cayman Gardens - photos 

Silver Thatch - Coccothrinax proctorii and Ironwood,

2 Cayman endemics, Colliers Wilderness Road.

Photo: Ann Stafford, Dec.1, 2013.

Cayman Nature Consultant and Tour Guide 

Tea Banker - Pectis caymanensis

Tea Banker Pectis caymanensis

P. Ann van B. Stafford
Text published in Cayman Islands Department of Environment Newsletter FLICKER #4, December 2009.
(The pictures may differ from those in FLICKER #4.)

Tea Banker, Mint   Pectis caymanensis (Urb.) Rydb. 1916

Synonyms: Pectis cubensis of Hitchcock, 1893, not Griseb., 1866  Pectis cubensis var. caymanensis Urb.,1907

Family: ASTERACEAE  (COMPOSITAE)

P. c.  var. caymanensis Cuba and the Cayman Islands 
P. c.  var. robusta Grand Cayman endemic
(Proctor, 1984) 

CaymANNature Flora pictures

Tea Banker, a small mat-like herb with a woody taproot, leaves with a distinctive, lovely lemony smell and little yellow flowers, has traditionally been used in Cayman to make a refreshing tea.

History

It was first recorded in the botanical literature of Grand Cayman in 1899 by Charles F. Millspaugh M.D. Department of Botany Curator, Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, Illinois. Millspaugh was a guest of Allison V. Armour, the Chicago meat-packing millionaire, on a West Indian cruise of the yacht ‘Utowana’; they visited the Cayman Islands during February, 1899. The chief set of Millspaugh’s specimens is in the herbarium of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Millspaugh published lists of his collection.

On February 8, 1899, the ‘Utowana’ stopped at The Creek ,‘Cayman Brae’ (Cayman Brac)  A Norther sprang up in the night, so they had to leave for  a point further west, where they anchored. They did some more collecting and then sailed on to Little Cayman, but found no safe harbour. They reached Georgetown (sic), Grand Cayman after dark on Feb. 9. The Health Officer forbade them to land as their last port (Port Antonio, Jamaica) was reported to be infected with measles.  They were, however, given permission to go ashore elsewhere as long as they kept away from any other person or dwelling. Because of the Norther, they anchored at ‘Spot Bay’ (Spotts).

Tea Banker was originally called Pectis cubensis, it had been found in Cuba. Millspaugh found it on Grand Cayman on Feb.14, 1899: ‘Fine full masses of this species were found in the sand of the roadside at Spot Bay, Grand Cayman (1279), but not seen elsewhere on the island. It is called "Flat-weed," and is used in infusion as a stomachic tonic.’ (Millspaugh, 1889)

Culturally Significant

In a two page article entitled ‘Bush Medicine’, published in the February 1973 issue of the Nor’wester magazine,  Ena Watler wrote: “It has fine green leaves, grows real close to the ground, and has tiny yellow flowers. Stick a bunch of it in boiling water and add some sugar and you’ll have a nice cup of tea to improve your appetite”.  (Watler, 1973)

Tea Banker - Pectis caymanensis, there were a lot of plants
in the sandy beach ridge yard of Capt. Carl Bush, #972 South Church St, Grand Cayman.

The house has been moved and in recent years no Tea Banker has been seen here.

Photo: Ann Stafford, Oct.30, 2002.

Critically Endangered

Tea Banker occurs in two varieties P. caymanensis var. caymanensis, Cuba, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, near endemic, and P. caymanensis var. robusta, Grand Cayman endemic. Both are Critically Endangered. (Burton, 2008)

Observations
Grand Cayman cemeteries and beach ridges

In recent years it has been found growing in some beach-ridge cemeteries. Do the plants die naturally in a prolonged dry season and sprout during the rainy season? Might it be an annual? This is a challenge to monitor, because it grows amongst Zoysia grass, Donkey Weed Stylosanthes hamata and other ground covers. It may have been pulled up and used for making tea. Cemeteries are weeded and raked.  Specimens of the plants I have found from four different locations on Grand Cayman all key out to P. c. var. robusta, the Grand Cayman endemic.

 

 Tea Banker - typical beach ridge habitat

Photo: Ann Stafford, South Sound, Grand Cayman, Nov.8, 2008

Sister Islands

Has anybody found Tea Banker on the Brac or Little Cayman in recent years?  var. caymanesis occurs in sandy clearings or soil-filled pockets of exposed limestone.

Conservation (P.c. var. robusta)

It is difficult to transplant. Although it can be grown from seed, it seems to require salt, such as at a beach ridge habitat, and fresh water, (when rain falls after the dry season), for the seeds to germinate.

 Tea Banker - typical beach ridge habitat

Photo: Ann Stafford, South Sound, Grand Cayman, Dec.1, 2013

Botanical description
Proctor, George R.  FLORA of the Cayman Islands, 1984, and second edition (in press):

Matlike perennial herb, subwoody at the base and with a woody taproot, the stems often pinkish; leaves oblong-linear or very narrowly lanceolate, 4-12 mm long, minutely scabrid toward the apex and sharply mucronate, and with 4-6 pairs of long cilia near the base. Peduncles mostly 5-10 mm long; ligules yellow, more or less longitudinally nerved. Achenes dark brown, minutely striate.

Occurs in two varieties which can be distinguished as follows:

Pectis caymanensis var. caymanensis   Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac and Cuba

Stems glabrous, seldom more than 12cm long; phyllaries ciliolate, c. 3mm long; ligules c. 3mm long;

achenes 2 - 2.5mm long, strigose with reddish hairs.

Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac and Cuba.

Occurs in sandy clearings or soil-filled pockets of exposed limestone. Frequently used to make a pleasantly aromatic tea.

Pectis caymanensis var. robusta  Proctor in Sloanea 1:4 1977

Stems sparingly hispidulous in lines, up to 25cm long or more; phyllaries glabrous, c.6mm long; ligules c. 5 mm long; achene 3 – 3.2mm long, glabrous or minutely white-strigillose toward the base.

Grand Cayman endemic. Found growing in gravelly sand near the sea.

This variety is generally larger and coarser in appearance than var. caymanensis.

Isotype of Pectis caymanensis var. robusta Proctor 

Pectis caymanensis var. robusta Proctor 

Critically Endangered, culturally significant Grand Cayman endemic,

small, aromatic mat-forming herb, South Sound sandy beach ridge,

virtual herbarium image, scanned at 600%.
 P. Ann van B. Stafford, June 6, 2006.

Pectis caymanensis var. robusta Proctor 

Critically Endangered Grand Cayman endemic,

small, aromatic mat-forming herb, South Sound sandy beach ridge,

scanned virtual herbarium image, P. Ann van B. Stafford, Dec.1, 2006.

Cayman Endemics images

Tea Banker - Pectis caymanensis - little clumps growing amongst the Zoysia grass,

Bodden Town Cemetery beach ridge.

Photo: Ann Stafford, Feb.19, 2010

Tea Banker - Pectis caymanensis - little clumps growing amongst the Zoysia grass,

Old Man Bay Cemetery beach ridge.

Photo: Ann Stafford, Feb.13, 2010

Please report observations to Cayman Islands Department of Environment.

References:

Burton, F.J.  Threatened Plants of the Cayman Islands The Red List 2008 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Millspaugh, Charles F.   Antillean Cruise of the Yacht Utowana  Dec. 1898 – Mar. 1899, Field Museum of Natural    History, Chicago www.archive.org/stream/plantaeutowanaepfimill/plantaeutowanaepfimill_djvu.txt  Accessed Nov.11, 2009

Proctor, George R.  Flora of the Cayman Islands 1984 and second edition (in press) Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Watler, Ena  Bush Medicine,  Nor’wester magazine, Feb. 1973 Cayman Islands National Archive

 

Plants Utowanae 1900

Plantae Utowanae. Plants collected in Bermuda, Porto Rico, St. Thomas, Culebras, Santo Domingo, Jamaica, Cuba, the Caymans, Cozumel, Yucatan and the Alacran shoals. Dec. 1898 to Mar. 1899. The Antillean cruise of the yacht Utowana. Mr. Allison V. Armour, owner and master (1900)

Cayman Islands Department of Environment Tea Banker - Pectis caymanensis Species Action Plan

Conservation

Suggestion for CONSERVATION of this delightful, culturally significant little wild flower that grows on sandy beach ridges: gather some seeds and sow them in Miss Lassie’s sand yard and beach. Next year, when the rains come, some may sprout! Tea Banker grew well in Capt. Carl Bush’s sand yard 400 yards further east, next to Sand Cay Apartments.

Miss Lassie's House (Gladwyn K. Bush), with the shutters she painted,
cistern and sand yard, at the junction of South Sound Road and Walkers Road.

Photo: Ann Stafford, Jan. 2013

Miss Lassie's House beach, Sound Sound, Grand Cayman.

Photo: Ann Stafford Jan. 2013

 
 

Cayman Sage - Salvia caymanensis

Salvia caymanensis - Cayman Sage

by P. Ann van B. Stafford
Cayman Nature Tour Guide and Native Plants Consultant

Salvia caymanensis Millsp.& Uline ex Millsp., Field Mus. Bot. 2:94 (1900)
Grand Cayman endemic, Critically Endangered 
 LAMIACEAE / LABITAE
 
FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS 2nd. Edition by George R. Proctor, Kew Publishing 2012
Page 590, Fig. 219, Plate 57.

Threatened Plants of the Cayman Islands THE RED LIST by Frederic J. Burton,  
Kew Publishing 2008.  Page 46.

A small, stiffly erect, slender shrub (woody), a short-lived perennial, to 1m tall with OPPOSITE aromatic grey-green leaves, covered on the underside with tiny white hairs. The deep blue flowers drop off as the day progresses. The 2-lipped calyx, the lips subequal, is clothed with spreading gland-tipped hairs. The glands are navy blue. The mature caylces are more than 5mm long, open and gaping in fruit.

Habitat: sandy thickets and clearings

History of Salvia caymanensis:

1899    Charles F. Millspaugh, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. 
1938    Wilfred Kings, Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands.
1956    George R. Proctor, collected in Savannah / Newlands

1967 June 8 Martin Brunt #2081 
Sandy site by roadside, George Town, West Bay Road.
Salvia caymanensis Virtual Herbarium of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands 

38 years go by without Salvia caymanensis being found

2005 April 23  Carla Reid found Salvia caymanensis growing in an abandoned George Town sand garden.
2005 Dec. 10  Daphne Rudolph found Salvia caymanensis in sandy, overgrown area at Cottage, south coast.

2007 May 25 Carla Reid found several plants flowering on the Queens Highway verge, north coast.

 #348 South Church St, George Town, just before the site was bulldozed.
Carla Reid found Cayman Sage - Salvia caymanensis, growing in the abandoned sand garden,
7 months after Hurricane Ivan hit Grand Cayman.
Photo: Ann Stafford, April 23, 2005

Cayman Sage - Salvia caymanensis discovered by Carla Reid in a George Town sand garden,

7 months after Hurricane Ivan hit Grand Cayman, in Sept. 2004.  #348 South Church St, Grand Cayman,  Photo: P. Ann van B. Stafford, April 23, 2005.
She grew some plants in her garden at East End. 

Daphne Rudolph found and photographed Salvia caymanensis in a sandy overgrown area at Cottage, on the south coast of Grand Cayman, Dec. 10, 2005

Salvia caymanensis sandy habitat, 
Carla Reid at Cottage, East End, south coast of Grand Cayman.
Photo: Ann Stafford, June 3, 2007.

Friday, May 25, 2007 Carla Reid found several plants flowering on the Queens Highway 19º 21.113N,  81º 08.684W, east of the Olde house #323, west of & near the agricultural road where Neoregnellia cubensis was found.

On the roadside verge, the plants growing back after being mown, & in the bush, plant 66cm high, (with Zanthoxylum flavum, Tournefortia astrotricha, Lantana involucrata, Savia erythroxyloides, Erythoxylum areolatum, Cordia sebestena var caymanensis, Phyllanthus angustifolius, Morinda citrifolia, Comocladia dentata & others).

 

 Salvia caymanensis plants found by Carla Reid on Queens Highway verge 

on Friday, May 25, 2007.
Photo: Carla Reid, May 26, 2007.

Queens Highway, north coast of Grand Cayman, roadside verge where
Carla Reid found Salvia caymanensis, the small slender shrub with blue flowers on May 25, 2007.
Photo: Ann Stafford. May 27, 2007

 Carla Reid points out Salvia caymanensis, the small, slender shrub with blue flowers,
which she found on May 25, 2007, growing the Queens Highway roadside verge, Grand Cayman. 

Maiden Plum - Comocladia dentata, Do Not Touch, Family: ANACARDIACEAE, has a highly irritant sap, to which most people are allergic, is growing on the right.
Photo: Ann Stafford. May 27, 2007

Photo: P. Ann van B. Stafford, May 28, 2007

Cayman Islands FLORA photos

Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, July 30, 2007
Cayman HERBARIUM - scanned images of live plants

Penny Clifford's painting of Salvia caymanensis

May 7, 2007  

CI$1000 REWARD is offered for finding the little shrub with deep blue flowers.

The last time the plant was officially recorded was 40 years ago by Martin Brunt, June 8, 1967.

Dr. Proctor confirms identification of Salvia caymanensis

Mon. June 11, 2007  Specimens were sent by Fedex to Dr. George R. Proctor in Jamaica by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands.

Thurs. June 14, 2007  Dr. Proctor confirmed the identification of Salvia caymanensis (Queens Highway roadside verge plants, May 25, 2007) by phone.

#348 South Church St plants of April 23, 2005, rescued and grown by Carla Reid, East End, were also identified as Salvia caymanensis.

KEW - Salvia caymanensis (Cayman Sage)

For nearly 40 years it was thought that the Cayman sage was extinct, but after the distribution of 'Wanted' posters in 2007 it was rediscovered.

CaymanianCompass

Plant extinct? Find it and win

by Carol Winker, May 7, 2007

People who study Cayman’s environment are afraid that a delicate little flowering plant may be extinct.

But anyone who proves them wrong will win $1,000 and a place in Cayman natural history.

The plant is the salvia caymanensis, a graceful part of flora that can reach to a height of up to three feet, with tiny blue flowers and a silvery cast to the underside of its leaves.

The reward is offered through the Darwin Initiative, a programme to conserve endangered plants and animals. Partners include the Department of Environment, the National Trust and the Garden Club.

Left: Salvia caymanensis, Queens Highway roadside verge and
Right: 348 South Church St sand garden,
both found by Carla Reid on May 25, 2007 and April 23, 2005 respectively.
The leaves are slightly different.
 Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, May 27, 2007

CaymanianCompass

"Extinct" plant found on Grand Cayman

by Carol Winker, July 26, 2007

Mrs. Carla Reid was forced to bring her vehicle to a stop one day last month so that trenching machinery could be moved on Queen’s Highway.
As she waited, she looked out of her window and saw something she had feared did not exist any more – a uniquely Caymanian plant identified years ago as salvia caymanensis and known less formally as Cayman sage.

For the presentation of the $1,000 reward, Mrs. Carla Reid and Mr. Mat Cottam chose an area in which she found the Cayman sage. Unfortunately, the flowers were no longer in bloom. Fortunately, Mr. Cottam had taken close–ups the previous week. Photo: Carol Winker

Although Mrs. Reid travels that section of road frequently, it’s a 50 miles per hour stretch, so chances of seeing the plant’s little blue flowers were minimal.
The flowers apparently don’t stay in bloom very long: when photographers went to the area last week, the blossoms were gone. Without them, the plant is not as easy to identify.
Mrs. Reid knew what she was looking for. The Darwin Initiative’s recent offer of a $1,000 reward reminded her of her earlier interest.

Grand Cayman small, slender endemic shrub, Critically Endangered
The flowers drop off around midday.
Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, June 5, 2007
Cayman Islands ENDEMICS - plants and creatures

 Salvia caymanensis under attack by insect pest Cottony Cushion Scale - Icerya purchasi.
Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, Grand Cayman, Oct.31, 2010.
 Image: P. Ann van B. Stafford, Oct.31, 2010
Featured Creature Icerya purchasi - Cottony Cushion Scale insect pest
BugGuide Icerya purchasi - Cottony Cushion Scale 

The 2-lipped calyx is clothed with spreading gland-tipped hairs. The glands are navy blue.

 Photo: Courtney Platt, July 6, 2009

Alasdair Currie and Andrea Jones photographing Salvia caymanensis at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, Grand Cayman, in the Colour Garden, by the lake.

Photo: Ann Stafford, March 2, 2013.

Salvia caymanensis in the Colour Garden at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, Grand Cayman. 

Photo: Ann Stafford, March 2, 2013

Species Action Plan for Salvia caymanensis 

DESCRIPTION:
Cayman Sage Salvia caymanensis Millsp. & Uline
Kingdom: Plantae, 
Division: Magnoliophyta, 
Class: Magnoliopsida, 
Order: Lamiales, Family: Labiatae, 
Genus: Salvia, 
Species: caymanensis
Salvia is a widely distributed genus of over 700 species (Proctor 2009). Cayman Sage Salvia caymanensis is endemic to Grand Cayman. The last specimen was collected by Martin Brunt in 1967 (No.2061), and stored in the herbarium of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands (sheet 712). The plant, however, was not seen since, despite repeated surveys. Salvia caymanensis was, until 2007, considered potentially extinct.
Distribution: Species endemic to Grand Cayman.
Conservation status: Critically endangered CR B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)c(ii,iv)+2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)c(ii,iv).

Click here for

Salvia caymanensis - more details 

Wreck of the Pallas, 1910

Cayman Islands Maritime Heritage Trail 
In 2003, the Cayman Islands National Museum teamed up with the Department of Environment, National Archive, and National Trust, to develop and launch the Maritime Heritage Trail. Spanning all three Caymanian islands, the trail is the first maritime trail of its kind in the Caribbean and combines education, heritage and recreational tourism. A three part approach aims to protect, manage, and interpret the Cayman Islands’ national heritage.

Made up of thirty six archaeological maritime sites across Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, the Maritime Heritage Trail is a land based driving tour that takes heritage buffs to important maritime locales including lighthouses, shipwrecks and historic anchorages, to name a few.

In 2003, the Cayman Islands National Museum teamed up with the Department of Environment, National Archive, and National Trust, to develop and launch the Maritime Heritage Trail. Spanning all three Caymanian islands, the trail is the first maritime trail of its kind in the Caribbean and combines education, heritage and recreational tourism. A three part approach aims to protect, manage, and interpret the Cayman Islands’ national heritage.
Made up of thirty six archaeological maritime sites across Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, the Maritime Heritage Trail is a land based driving tour that takes heritage buffs to important maritime locales including lighthouses, shipwrecks and historic anchorages, to name a few.
- See more at: http://www.museum.ky/sites#sthash.KvPB52m4.dpuf

SV PALLAS 

a three-masted iron sailing ship, was built in 1875 by Charles Connell & Co., Glasgow, (information and picture)

On October 13th, 1910, the Norwegian barque SV PALLAS, owned at the time of her loss by Malm A/S, Oslo, was on a voyage from Buenos Aires to Gulfport in ballast, when she sailed into a hurricane. The ship was out of control, her Captain lost and she finally ran aground on the 'Pull and Be Dammed Point', southwest from Grand Cayman Island.

Wreck of the Pallas on South Sound reef  

off Pull-and-be-damned Point, Oct.12, 1910
SV Pallas was an iron sailing ship with 3 masts, built in 1875.

The 1910 Cuba hurricane popularly known as the Cyclone of the Five Days, was an unusual and destructive tropical cyclone that struck Cuba and the United States in October 1910. It formed in the southern Caribbean on October 9 and strengthened as it moved northwestward, becoming a hurricane on October 12.

1910 October: George Stephenson Shirt Hirst (1871-1912), Cayman Islands Commissioner from 1907 to 1912, wrote Notes on the History of the Cayman Islands, published in 1910. 

Commissioner Hirst’s eyewitness account is in his book: 

On the 12^th. and 13^th. of October, the Dependency was again visited by a hurricane. For a few days before there were ominous warnings and preparations were made with a view to preventing as much damage as possible. The Schooner “Express” owned by James Webster of Georgetown was in harbour and rode through the storm without injury. At 9pm a Norwegian barque, the “Pallas”, was driven on the reef at South Sound and became a total wreck. The captain and crew were saved the next morning.

In this storm the wind (which blew from 80-85 miles an hour) did much less damage than the sea. Captain David Fuertado, who has known Georgetown for over 80 years, informed me that it was the heaviest sea he recollected, far surpassing the sea in the 1845 strom. The road in front of the Court House, parts of Church Street and New Road in Georgetown were washed away and tons of rocks, sponges, seafans, fish and other refuse were deposited by the storm on “the front”.

At West Bay, the roof of the school building was carried away and the pier totally demolished. The materials forming the pier were fortunately washed ashore.

At Red Bay and Spotts the roads were washed away and at the latter place the sea encroached 53 yards on the land, bringing up an abundance of rocks and boulders which it deposited in the form of a breakwater. In fact, the breakwater saved the houses of the Messrs. Crighton.

At Savannah the sea came over the land and washed away parts of Hirst Road. At Newlands, a school of dead Jack was found and a King Fish caught in a gully, a third of a mile from the sea.

At Bodden Town the pier was damaged but little else.

East End appears to have suffered more than any other place, where Mr. Conwell Watler estimates the sea rose  fifteen feet.

During the storm the wind blew first from the South East and then from the South West.

Barque    
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.