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THE C U B A R E V I E W 



A Sea Grape Tree, Growing at Marco, West Coast of Florida. 



The names listed indicate clearly that the tree is largely confined in its range 

 of growth to the seacoast. The name mangrove grape infers that the tree grows 

 among the mangrove trees, which do not thrive beyond the limits of high tide. In 

 fact, next to the mangrove it is said to he the commonest tree on the shores of 

 Cuba, as well as in other parts of the West Indies. The sea grape is very common 

 in southern Florida from Cape Canavoral southward. It is found on all of the 

 West Indian Islands and on the tropical parts of the Spanish Main. The tree is 

 not wholly confined to seashore, but in Cuba and Jamaica, where it finds its best 

 development, it grows in the moist woods of the interior at elevations of 500 feet or 

 more. Very little is known in reference to the distribution of the sea grape in 

 South America. The shores of the Caribbean Sea afford the most congenial condi- 

 tions for the growth. 



In a range so large and including situations so various, it is natural that the 

 tree should vary greatly in size. Generally speaking, the sea grape is only a low shrub 

 in many parts of the west coast of Florida. It rarely grows to be more than twenty 

 feet in height and one foot in diameter. In poor seaside sand the trees remain small 

 and bushy, while in good soil and protected from the strong ocean winds they often 

 attain a height of from 25 to CO feet and from IS to 24 inches or more in diameter. 

 There is perhaps no tree in the tropics better distinguished from others, even by 

 those who possess but little knowledge on the subject, than the sea grape. The 

 young branches are smooth and gray, but the older ones and the trunks have a 

 rough bark full of fissures. The leaves are remarkable for their large size; they 

 are nearly round with a narrow cleft at the base, where they are attached to very 

 short-leaf stalks, which single it out from most other trees. According to Oriedo, 

 the Spaniards used the wide leaves of this tree to write on with the point of a bod- 



