Coccoloba uvifera (Sea grape)

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Coccoloba uvifera (L.) L.

Sea grape

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Caryophyllidae	Cacti, many other succulents, carnivorous plants, and leadworts
Order	Caryophyllales	Includes cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, and many carnivorous plants
Family	Polygonaceae	Knotweed or smartweed family
Genus	Coccoloba	New Latin, alteration of Coccolobis, from cocco- (Latinized form of Greek kokkos), “berry, seed”; and -lobis (from Greek lobos), “lobe, capsule, pod”
Species	uvifera	From uva, “grape,” and -fera, “bearing”

About plant names...

If there’s a picture of a Florida or Caribbean beach, there’s probably a sea grape tree lurking in the background. This is the native habitat of sea grape, which is also found in Mississippi and Hawaii.

Plants: Trees are up to 10-40' (3-12 m) in height and up to 35' (10 m) wide, often branching broadly. Bark is smooth, peeling, and grayish, with irregular patches of white, gray and light brown.

Leaves: Leathery, broad, almost hairless leaves have prominent red veins. They are alternate and round to kidney-shaped, and up to 8" (20 cm) around. At the base of each leaf stem (petiole) is a red, collar-like sheath, an identifying feature of this species. Leaves become entirely red before they fall in the winter. Young leaves are coppery or bronze-colored.

Flowers: Inconspicuous white flowers appear on thin racemes about 12" (30 cm) long. They have mild fragrance.

Fruits: Flowers become dense grape-like clusters. Each grape is roughly spherical, ¾" (1.9 cm) in size, maturing from green through shades of yellow and red, to deep purple. Fruits appear only on female trees. Each grape contains a single, hard seed.

Edibility: Fruits range from tart to sweet, and can be made into jelly, said to taste similar to apple jelly, or wine. The seed within is hard enough to crack a tooth, so be careful processing or eating them.

Online References:

Www.backyardnature.net

Hort.ifas.ufl.edu (PDF)

Hawaiian Plants and Tropical Flowers

Wikimedia Commons

Www.floridaforaging.com

The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

4/9/2015 · Beach, Marco Island, Florida
≈ 36 × 24" (90 × 60 cm)

4/13/2015 · Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, Everglades National Park, Florida
≈ 10 × 12" (25 × 30 cm)

Polygonum uvifera L.

Coccoloba uvifera description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

4/10/2015 · Gulf Coast Visitor Center, Everglades National Park, Everglades City, Florida
≈ 5½ × 3½' (1.7 × 1.1 m)

4/10/2015 · Gulf Coast Visitor Center, Everglades National Park, Everglades City, Florida
≈ 13 × 9" (33 × 23 cm)

4/10/2015 · Gulf Coast Visitor Center, Everglades National Park, Everglades City, Florida
≈ 17 × 11" (42 × 28 cm)

4/9/2015 · Beach, Marco Island, Florida

4/10/2015 · Gulf Coast Visitor Center, Everglades National Park, Everglades City, Florida
≈ 27 × 18" (69 × 46 cm)

Range: Zones 10-11:

About this map...