Sea Grape (Coccoloba uvifera)

Sea Grape trees and shrubs grow wild all over Barbados, particularly along the coastline. They are easily recognisable because of the almost circular leaf. As the new leaves come out, they are a magnificent rust colour, as shown in one of the photographs, and as they age they change to a verdant green.

As the name implies, sea grapes bear a small delicious fruit, which turns purple as it ripens. The hard part is finding ripe ones to pick as birds, monkeys and other people all like them too. When I was a child, people would sell them on the beach for a few pennies - the leaf was twisted into a cone shape and filled with lushious ripe fruit. Failing that, we would climb the sand dunes to reach the trees ourselves and feast.

Sea Grape is a very hardy salt tolerant plant, most of the leaves will fall off during the dry season, and they will look quite bare and near death, but as soon as rain comes, these magnificent rusty coloured leaves appear which slowly turn green, and it becomes thick and lush, and quite spectacular.

Keep your eyes open as you explore the island’s beaches and coastline, and you are sure to come across some Sea Grape trees.