Epiphytes and mosses cling to the tree trunks and many species of fern and grasses provide a thick undergrowth. The trees include the gommier, bois canot, Caribbean pine and blue mahoe. At the summit, the vegetation is an example of elfin woodland, the trees stunted by the wind, the leaves adapted with drip tips to cope with the excess moisture. Apart from the highest areas, the island is heavily cultivated. On tours around the country look for nutmeg trees and the secondary product, mace, cloves, cinammon, allspice, bay, tumeric and ginger.
Sugar cane is used to make rum at three distilleries.
Many of the spices can be seen at the Douglaston Estate or the Nutmeg Co-operatives in Gouyave or Grenville. Laura s Spice and Herb Garden, near Perdmontemps in St David s, has samples of herbs and spices grown in their natural habitat. You can swim at Bathway but currents are strong at other beaches. The coast between Levera Beach and Bedford Point is eroding rapidly, at a rate of several feet a year. On the south coast is La Sagesse Protected Seascape , a peaceful refuge which includes beaches, a mangrove estuary, a salt pond and coral reefs.