Sunday, May 3, 2015

A Sea Grape tree in the park

In the foreground is the Sea Grape tree (Coccoloba uvifera )
Family : Polygonaceae - Polygonum family
This picture taken when the stream overflowed due to flash floods.

 It is normally grown along the coasts but I managed to grow one tree for posterity at the park.  The seedling originated from the Pantai Ria foodstalls area in Bintulu town where it was planted in the 1980's.  Not many people in Bintulu take note of this tree.  The Samling group that took over the state land where the stalls were located had flattened the foodstalls area and  is yet to be known whether any original Sea Grape trees were saved by its land clearing and building demolishing contractor.  Fortunately, I took one seedling from the area in 2009 and propagated it at the park.  The fruits of the tree are like grapes and edible, thus the name Sea Grape.  It is a small tree with attractive large rounded leaves that offer contrast in texture, form and colour to the overall landscape.  I  love the red flushes and I observed here that these red flushes or young leaves last for weeks.  To see how the fruits look like please go to my other blog here
Coccoloba uvifera planted for posterity
Location : Zone C

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