When one hears tropical vegetation, one thinks immediately of palms, and there are lots of palms on the island. If you look closer, you will see that there are different kind of palms. Not only are they different in size, but they also have different foliage. Some of them have small leaves whilst others have very large leaves.

The Dominican Republic has various types of vegetation zones due to the mountain ranges that divide the island into different climate zones. In the areas with lots of rain, marked by very high humidity and average temperatures of 24 – 28 degrees Celsius, small parts of rain forests remain. In the areas that are climatically between the rainy and dry areas you will mainly find rain green forests. The tree crowns do not form a closed roof, enabling sun rays to get down to the lower levels and the soil and as a consequence, lower growth develops very strongly. On the side of the mountain ranges that do not get hit by wind, i.e. Monte Cristi or Lago Enriquillo, you will find dry forests. Here, on this dry and washed out soil, only cacti, century plants and thorny brushes grow. The central highland has totally different vegetation with green hills and large mixed forest that you would rather expect in the foothills of the Alps than in the Caribbean.

Noticeable flowers: When travelling through the country, the visitor will notice the red flowers of the tree aptly named “fire tree” (Flamboyant) . In every park and on every plaza you will see the red flowers of the Malvaviscus Arboreus bush. You will be surprised to see various species of liliacea that you only know as potted plants and that here reach a height of more than a meter.