Seaford Harvey remembers a time when lignum vitae was a familiar feature of the landscape across St Catherine, with the short, compact trees and their distinctive bluish-purple blooms growing in abundance throughout the parish.

When he started making wood carvings more than three decades ago, the dense, durable timber of the lignum vitae (Guaiacum officinale) was his material of choice, and he would source it from vendors who readily traded the prized logs.

Now, the 67-year-old artisan, who trades his sculptures in the Ocho Rios Craft Market in St Ann, is often taken aback by how scarce this timber has become.