Jamaican dry forests are subtropical dry forests

Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests

The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimeters of rain per year, they have long dry seasons...

 located in southern Jamaica. The most extensive dry forests are in the limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 hills of the Hellshire Hills in St. Catherine

Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica

St Catherine is a parish located in the south east of Jamaica. It is located in the county of Middlesex, and is one of the island's largest and most economically valued parish because of its many resources. It includes the first capital of Jamaica, Spanish Town, originally known as San Jago de la...

 and Portland Ridge in Clarendon

Clarendon Parish, Jamaica

Clarendon is a parish in Jamaica. It is located on the south of the island, roughly half-way between the island's eastern and western ends...

 in southern Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

. These areas are dry because the lie in the orographic

Orography

Orography is the study of the formation and relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain...

 rain shadow

Rain shadow

A rain shadow is a dry area on the lee side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems, casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them. As shown by the diagram to the right, the warm moist air is "pulled" by the prevailing winds over a mountain...

 of the Blue Mountains

Blue Mountains (Jamaica)

The Blue Mountains form the longest mountain range in Jamaica. They include the island's highest point, Blue Mountain Peak, at 2256 m . From the summit, accessible via a walking track, both the North and South coasts of the island can be seen...

. The Hellshire Hills have been described as one of the last substantial areas of primary, undisturbed dry forest in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

.

Jamaican dry forests are dominated by plants in the Rubiaceae

Rubiaceae

The Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee , quinine , and gambier , and the horticulturally valuable madder , west indian jasmine ,...

, the Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbiaceae, the Spurge family are a large family of flowering plants with 300 genera and around 7,500 species. Most are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are also shrubs or trees. Some are succulent and resemble cacti....

 and the Myrtaceae

Myrtaceae

The Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here. All species are woody, with essential oils, and flower parts in multiples of four or five...

. In this regard they are similar to Puerto Rican dry forests

Puerto Rican dry forests

The Puerto Rican dry forests are a subtropical dry forest ecoregion located in southwestern and eastern Puerto Rico and on the offshore islands. They cover an area of . These forests grow in areas receiving less than of rain annually...

, but differ sharply from dry forests on the mainland of South

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

 which are dominated by the Fabaceae

Fabaceae

The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...

 and the Bignoniaceae

Bignoniaceae

The Bignoniaceae, or Trumpet Creeper Family, is a family of flowering plants comprising about 650-750 species in 116-120 genera. Members of the family are mostly trees and lianas , shrubs and more rarely herbaceous plants. As climber plants, they are twine climbers or tendril climbers, and rarely...

. Over 271 plant species have been reported from the Hellshire Hills, including 53 species endemic to Jamaica. McLaren and coauthors (2005) found forests in the Hellshire Hills to be dominated by Drypetes

Drypetes

Drypetes is a plant genus of the family Putranjivaceae. It was previously put in family Euphorbiaceae, tribe Drypeteae and was the sole pantropical zoochorous genus of the family...

 lateriflora, Metopium brownei

Metopium brownei

Metopium brownei is a species of plant in the Anacardiaceae family. It is found in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, northern Guatemala, Belize, and from the Yucatan to Veracruz in Mexico. The wood of this tree is a valuable source of lumber in Central America and the West Indies...

, Bauhinia

Bauhinia

Bauhinia is a genus of more than 200 species of flowering plants in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the large flowering plant family Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution. The genus was named after the Bauhin brothers, Swiss-French botanists....

 divaricata and Krugiodendron ferreum

Krugiodendron ferreum

Krugiodendron ferreum, commonly known as the Black Ironwood or Leadwood, is a species of tree in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It is found in southern Florida, throughout the Caribbean and from southern Mexico to Honduras...

.

Much of the remaining Jamaican dry forest lies within the Portland Bight Protected Area which includes the Portland Ridge and the Hellshire Hills, which are the best-studied areas of Jamaican dry forest. The endangered Jamaican iguana

Jamaican iguana

The Jamaican Iguana is a large species of lizard of the genus Cyclura endemic to Jamaica. It is the largest native land animal in the country, and is critically endangered, being thought extinct since 1948...

 (Cyclura collei) is restricted to dry forests in the Hellshire Hills. The endemic tree frog Eleutherodactylus cavernicola

Eleutherodactylus cavernicola

Eleutherodactylus cavernicola is a species of frog in the Leptodactylidae family.It is endemic to Jamaica.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and caves.It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:...

, two endemic Thunder snake

Thunder snake

Thunder snake may refer to:* Agkistrodon contortrix laticinctus, a.k.a. the broad-banded copperhead, a venomous pitviper subspecies found in the United States....

s, Trophidophis stullae and Trophidophis jamaicencis, and the endemic Blue-Tailed Galliwasp

Celestus

Celestus is a genus of Anguid lizards. It has 25 living member species.-Classification:Genus Celestus*Celestus agasepsoides*Celestus badius*Celestus barbouri*Celestus bivittatus*Celestus costatus...

 (Celestus duquesneyi

Celestus duquesneyi

Celestus duquesneyi is a species of lizard in the Anguidae family.It is found only in Jamaica.-Source:* Gibson, R. 1996. . Downloaded on 18 July 2007....

) are restricted to the Portland Ridge. Other endemic species present in the area include the Jamaican boa (Epicrates subflavus), the Common Snake (Typhlops

Typhlops

Typhlops is a genus of blind snakes found in Europe, Africa, Asia and Central and South America. Currently, 120 species are recognized.-Geographic range:...

 jamaicencis), the Grass Snake (Arrhyton calillaemums), the Jamaican Coney

Jamaican coney

The Jamaican Coney is a terrestrial land mammal found in the rocky, forested areas of Jamaica. It is also known as the Jamaican Hutia and is endemic to the Island....

 (Geocapromys brownii) and 11 endemic subspecies of birds. The last Jamaican populations of the skink Mabuya

Mabuya

Mabuya is a genus of long-tailed skinks nowadays restricted to species from the Americas. The American mabuyas are primarily carnivorous, though many are omnivorous. Formerly, many Old World species were placed here, as Mabuya was a kind of "wastebasket taxon"...

 mabouya

Mabuya mabouya

Mabuya mabouya is a species of skink found on certain islands in the Caribbean. It has shiny, bronze-colored skin, with a pair of light stripes that run along its upper flanks....

are believed to be in the Hellshire Hills.