This rare Virgin Islands shrub is Marron Bacora, Solanum conocarpum. It belongs to the nightshade family, Solanaceae, along with tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and potatoes. Unlike those familiar crop plants, Marron Bacora has an extremely limited natural range and is one of the most endangered plants in the Virgin Islands. It occurs naturally on St. John, with an additional small population discovered on Tortola.

The plant usually grows as a woody, thornless shrub and may reach about nine or ten feet in height. It is adapted to seasonally dry tropical forest, where rainfall may be irregular and plants must endure long dry periods.

The leaves are simple, thick and leathery, with smooth edges and a prominent pale or yellow-orange central vein. Their firm texture helps the plant conserve moisture during dry weather.

The flowers are especially attractive. They are usually lavender or violet, with five broad lobes surrounding a bright yellow cluster of anthers. Their shape reveals the plant’s relationship to other members of the genus Solanum, including the familiar eggplant.

The yellow anthers release their pollen when certain bees vibrate them rapidly. This behavior, known as buzz pollination, shakes the pollen from the flower rather like salt from a shaker. Native bees have been observed visiting Marron Bacora flowers.

Individual plants produce either functionally male or functionally female flowers, so successful fruiting depends on compatible plants growing close enough for pollinators to move pollen between them.

After pollination, the female plants develop unusual teardrop-shaped berries. The fruits begin green, sometimes with pale streaks, and become bright golden yellow as they mature. A pointed brown cap may remain at the end, giving the fruit a distinctive two-toned appearance. The berries contain numerous pale seeds, but they should be treated as conservation features rather than food.

For many years, Marron Bacora was feared to be extinct. It was rediscovered on St. John in 1992, but its remaining populations are still small, scattered and vulnerable to development, invasive plants, grazing, hurricanes and poor natural regeneration.

The species was formally listed as endangered under the United States Endangered Species Act in 2022, and critical habitat was designated on St. John.

That makes a cultivated specimen particularly important. It is not simply an attractive purple-flowered shrub; it is part of a conservation effort to protect a plant found naturally in almost no other place on Earth.

When presenting Marron Bacora to a group, the most important point is its sense of place. Its violet flowers and golden fruit are beautiful, but its real significance is that it represents a small and irreplaceable part of the botanical heritage of the Virgin Islands.