The Sea Grape
IT IS a picturesque shade tree which has the added value of being a source of delicious fruits. The Seagrape, also called the “Caribbean Seagrape”, is native to coastal beaches throughout tropical America and the Caribbean, including southern Florida, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda and Guyana. The Seagrape is highly tolerant to salt, and where stands do not exist, it is planted as a coastal windbreaker, or to stabilize the edges of beaches. It is also planted as an ornamental shrub.

Science and the Seagrape
The Seagrape is scientifically known as “Coccoloba uvifera”, and is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family.
It is a sprawling, evergreen shrub or small tree that reaches a maximum height of 8 metres (26 ft), but most specimens are little more than 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall.
It has large, round, leathery leaves (up to 25 cm/9.8 inches in diameter) with a primary vein that has a red colour extending from the base, and the entire leaf turns red as it ages. The bark is smooth and yellowish. It bears green fruit, about 2 centimetres (0.79 in) in diameter, in large, grape-like clusters. The fruit gradually ripens to a purplish colour. Each contains a large pit that constitutes most of the volume of the fruit.
The reddish fruits of the Seagrape are very tasty, and may be eaten directly from the tree, cooked into jellies and jams, or fermented into sea grape wine. Sea grape wine may also be fermented into sea grape vinegar, which is also useful in cooking.
The sap of the sea grape is used in the West Indies and Jamaica for dyeing and tanning of leather.

Naming the Seagrape
The first botanical names of the plant were assigned in 1696 by Hans Sloane, who called it Prunus maritima racemosa, “maritime grape-cluster Prunus”; and Leonard Plukenet, who named it Uvifera littorea, “grape-bearer of the shore”. Both of these names reflect the European concept of “sea-grape”, expressed in a number of languages by explorers of the times.
The natives of the Caribbean viewed it as a large mulberry.
The first edition of Linnaeus’s “Species Plantarum” (1753), based on Plukenet, assigned the plant the name Polygonum uvifera and noted flores non vidi, “I have not seen the flowers.”
Subsequently, Patrick Browne, in “The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica (1756)” devised Coccoloba, “red-leaf”, for it.
Relying on Browne, Linnaeus’s second edition (1762) changed the classification to Coccolobus uvifera, citing all the other names.

Nature of the plant
Coccoloba uvifera is a dioecious species; that is, male and female flowers are borne on separate plants, and cross-pollination is necessary for fruit to develop.
Honey bees and other insects help pollinate these plants; male and female plants can be distinguished by the appearance of their flowers, as males usually show dead flower stalks.
Coccolobas grow extremely well in sandy soil, and often grow directly on sandy beaches next to the ocean, similar to the coconut palm.
Local landscapers and beach lovers would like to see many Coccoloba uvifera trees grown on the beaches, to provide shade for the beach goers and also contribute to the stabilization of the land in the direct vicinity of the water.
Hans Neher of the # 1 Plant Shop on Sheriff Street said last week that the shop does not have the coccoloba in stock, but can provide plants on order.
He added: “However, as the readers from this report will realize, whoever is planting this lovely tree must have sufficient space in his/her yard.”