Orange Combretum: At the “Point-a-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust” Trinidad:
The Pointe-à-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust is an inland fresh water wetland habitat, encompassing 26 hectares and two lakes is uniquely situated on a large petrochemical complex on the west coast of Trinidad. At the Trust you will find the Combretum or bushwillows from the genus of the family Combretaceae which comprises about 370 species of trees and shrubs that are pollinated by mammals insects or birds. Several species are used in African or Indian traditional medicine. Combretastatins, found in the South African Bushwillow, are under study for the therapy of tumors, including anaplastic thyroid cancer for which there is little or no approved treatment at present. Some are also recorded to contain large quantities of punicalagins, the antioxidants well-known from the Pomegranate a somewhat related plant. These chemicals, too, are suspected to suppress cancer growth.