Climate

National flower of the Bahamas: Yellow Elder

The islands offer a variety of tropical flora and fauna, including mangrove forest in the wetlands, dildo and wollynipple cactus on the dry Southside of the islands, and an abundance of oak trees and tropical palm trees on their northern side. Indigenous flowers are lignum vitae and yellow elder, the national tree and flower, respectively.

The Inaguas abound in salt, limestone, and gypsum. Great Inagua has one of the largest solar salt operations in the world. Inaguas environment is perfect for salt production. The weather is exceptionally dry. The interior is flat and the islands are cooled by the trade winds, the steady current of air that originates off West Africa.