They're called 'genips'....crack open the shell and pop it into your mouth....it's got a huge pit in it, but it's surrounded by a strange/slimey 'stuff', and they taste great! Like a sweet-tart, kinda.

You suck off the goo surrounding the big pit and then spit out the pit and then pick the stringy remaining fibers from your teeth and spit them out too, unless you are suffering from a severe case of Montezuma's Revenge and have very willful diarrhea in which case you swallow all that fiber which will stop you up big time. and solve that problem. If you don't have a diarrhetic problem then best to spit out the pith because if you swallow enough of it you'll be stopped up and backed up for a while. Thus endeth the lesson on genip-eating.

Marty, I'm a sour old tart to a few but a sweet one to the majority!!!!

Seriously, many longtime visitors really look forward to the ripening of the genips. I usually do a "Genips For Crits" annual fundraiser to benefit the STT Humane Society but we seriously hacked down the huge tree last year and this year there aren't enough genips to make it a "go" and the bunches are too high to really make money for that worthy cause. Next year a different story. Thus endeth a second lesson in the benefit of genips... Cheers and good night!

Had my first genip on the Reef Bay trail 2 weeks ago. It was lovely and I spent the rest of the week staring up at trees looking for more...drove the group crazy.

Not to be gross, but as someone with a funny stomach...I may have realized some of the results of eating all that fiber. Cold explain something...

When we were living in PR there would be boys on the side of the road selling them (They called them Ganapes) We were told they were also good for to reduce female monthly pain. Not sure about that one.

Back then it was about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Aguadilla to SJ. We would suck on them and spit seeds the whole way. I always looked for them in the Gucci Grocery Stores in the US with no luck.

Long, long ago, when I lived in Panama Canal Zone, vendors would sell them by the small bag full for about a nickle. We would bite them open, suck on them and spit the pits out while waiting for the school bus, or just lounging around. It was an alternantive to peanuts, candy, popcorn, etc. When i am on St. john, and there are Gineps in the trees, I aleways pick some and enjoy them. There was a pretty big tree on the property where we stayed the first of July, and I picked, bit, ssucked and enjoyed them!:-)(tu)

Try em, you might like em...

-Bert

I remember seeing a table full of them for sale everyday near the racetrack. But a great place for them, at least during August, has been on the deck at Udder Delight, where you sit sucking down the outrageously wonderful chocolate chocolate with a banana in it ice cream shake and the genips bop you on the head. The shade of that huge genip tree combined with one of the best constant breezes on St. Thomas,the taste of a shake, whatever flavor is your favorite, and the bopping of genips and plopping sound as they land on the deck makes that one of my favorite spots on the island. OK, maybe it's just the shakes.

I don't want to say how many times Candy and I found our way there, without ever going to Magen's Bay, no less, but those sweet women shakemakers had tears in their eyes when we ordered our last and said goodbye.

Hi Traumagas,

Check out the Fruit's Page on this site. There are photos and descriptions of fruits you might see while in the USVI, including the ones most visitors would know like mango and coconut and those they might not like genips. Hope you got a chance to try the genips!

--Islander

Good afternoon Islander,
Thanks once more for your advice. It is so kind of you to take the time to share your wisdom with those of us who are new to the VI. You are greatly appreciated. 😀
Take care,
Mel

Thanks
So Much ! Thats where I saw them is at the race track on atable for sale

J

Check this out

http://www.flickr.com/photos/treehuggin1/2820076370/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/treehuggin1/2820076220/in/photostream/

Cool. Good to know they look like key limes. BTW what do y'all know about the trees that are poisonous? And for that matter any plants that are poisonous upon contact?

STT, "Thus endeth the lesson".. Sounds like a quote from one of my favorite movies and actor. NO? Prohibition era w/a famous G-man?

sorry, bobcside, you lost me there! Purely biblical phrasing on my part!

The few genips that are here are quite huge, big and juicy. (and keep plopping on my car!) Hopefully next year we'll once again be able to do "Genips for Crits" to support the Humane Society.

The torrential downpours courtesy of Miss Hannah's wide bands over the last three days are surely designed to feed and succor everything and the island is VERY green right now. I wish she would just bugger off, though, as I HAD to weedwhack and mow today and got drenched three times.

Cheers!

Traumagas,

Your question is in this month's newsletter; one of the articles is about Genips. Did you have an opportunity to try them?

--Islander

"...BTW what do y'all know about the trees that are poisonous?"

Manchineel tree trunks are often painted white to warn people to avoid them. You don't want to stand under one when it rains!

Namaste, the Manchineel tree typically grows along beaches and coastal areas. The sap from the tree is said to be caustic; which results in the warning not to stand under one, particularly when it’s raining. The small green "apples" it produces are poisonous. Some beaches have warning signs posted on or around the trees.

There are other plants that are poisonous. The ones that come to mind have their ill effects if the leaves or seeds are consumed and not if you pass by it or touch it. The exception there is stinging nettle, which is usually found growing in the ‘bush’. I have seen some at the Cinnamon Bay Ruins but it was off the trail. Stay on the trails and you should be fine. Or better yet, pull up a photo so you know what it looks like.

There are some trees in the VI that have other defenses, thorns! The Sandbox tree has thorns on its trunk; its known as the 'monkey no climb' tree. There are also some that have thorns on the leaves and there is ‘catch-n-keep’, a vine with lots of thorns. I have seen all three in the National Park on St. John. The ‘monkey no climb’ is a cool looking tree, quite easy to spot the thorns and avoid leaning up against it. On some hiking trails there is catch-n-keep right off the sides of the trail, but again easy to avoid if you stick to the trail.

--Islander

Thank you for the information. I did some research on the flora and fauna. I am glad I know what the Manchineel tree looks like, because it looks like a great shade tree, I would not want to make that mistake, nor make the mistake to eat the tasty green "apples". Good to know what to avoid when hiking. We will take your advice and stay on the trail. Something my husband finds challenging sometimes......." I wonder what is over there?" "Hey, watch out for those thorns! "
Can't wait to explore all the beautiful places!!!