Coccoloba uvifera L.

Seagrape (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Caryophyllales > Polygonaceae > Coccoloba

Characteristics

Tree of strand areas, 2-15 m. tall; branches stout, papillose to pilose; ocreae rigid, coriaceous at the base, membranaceous at the apex, 3-8 mm. long, papillose to pilose; leaves of normal shoots with stout petioles, 7-10 mm. long, puberulent to pilose, the blades orbicular to reniform, 10 X 10, 11 X 14, 13 X 18, 20 X 27 cm. long and broad, thick and fleshy when fresh, coriaceous when dry, glabrous and minutely punctate on both surfaces, the apex rounded, truncate or emarginate, the base rounded to broadly cordate, one lobe extending around the petiole, the primary veins 3-5 pairs usually straight, bifurcate and weakly anastomosing near the margin, commonly barbate in the axils of the basal veins, the secondary venation minutely reticulate or obscure; inflorescence stout, 15-30 cm. long, racemose, occasionally branched at the base, the rachis puberulent, staminate flowers in clusters of 1-7, the pistillate flowers solitary at each locus, the bracts ovate, 1-1.5 mm. long, 2 mm. broad, puberulent, the ocreolae membranaceous, 1 mm. long, puberulent, the flowering pedicels 1-2 mm. long, the hypanthium 2-3 mm. long, the perianth lobes 4 mm. long, 3-4 mm. wide, the fertile stamens to 4 mm. long; fruiting pedicels 3-4 mm. long, fruit obpyriform, 1.2-2 cm. long, 8-10 mm. in diameter, narrowed at the base, rounded-truncate at the apex, the perianth rose-purple when mature; achene black.
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Plants with branches spreading or sprawling, 2-7(-15) m. Stems: bark gray, peeling off in small white, gray, or brown flakes, inner bark light brown; twigs green and puberulent when young, gray at maturity, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves: those of adventitious or juvenile shoots often much larger and of different shape from those of normal shoots; ocrea persistent proximally, deciduous distally, brown or reddish brown, cylindric to funnelform, 3-8 mm, coriaceous proximally, membranous distally, margins oblique, glabrous or densely puberulent; petiole 5-15 mm, puberulent to pilose; blade pale green abaxially, green to bluish green adaxially, round to transversely elliptic, (6-)10-20(-27) × 6-20(-27) cm, length equaling or less than width, coriaceous, base cordate, margins sometimes revolute, apex rounded to blunt or emarginate, abaxial surface dull, adaxial surface shiny or dull, minutely punctate, glabrous. Inflorescences 10-30 cm, puberulent or glabrous, pistillate pendent in fruit; peduncle 1-5 cm, glabrous. Pedicels 1-4 mm, glabrous. Flowers: tepals round to broadly elliptic, margins entire, apex obtuse. Staminate flowers 1-7 per ocreate fascicle. Pistillate flowers: tube obpyriform, 12-20 × 8-12 mm, becoming fleshy. Achenes 8-11 × 8-10 mm, shiny. 2n = 132.
A medium to large evergreen tree. It grows 6-15 m high and spreads to 3 m across. The stem is erect and woody and branching. The bark is pale and blotchy. The leaves are glossy green and almost round, but heart shaped at the base. They are rounded at the tip, and leathery. The leaves can be 10-27 cm long by 12-25 cm wide. Often male and female flowers are on separate trees. The flowers are white and have a scent. Flowers occur in clusters, with flowers on equal length flower stalks along a central stem. These are 15-30 cm long. The fruit hang in clusters. They are small and round and white or purple. They are grape like and edible. The flesh is juicy and thin. The seed is hard and nut-like.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination entomogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 2.0
Mature height (meter) 7.6 - 8.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) 1.5
Root diameter (meter) 0.3
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A tropical plant. It is native to tropical America. It can tolerate wind and salt. It has reasonable drought tolerance and can grow in damp soils. It prefers light, well-drained soils in an open sunny position. It is frost tender. Plants normally grow near beaches along sea shores. It adapts well to sandy soils. In Brisbane Botanical Gardens. It suits hardiness zones 10-12.
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A pioneer woody plant of sandy sea shores. Coastal strand and limestone thickets.
Light 4-6
Soil humidity 2-5
Soil texture -
Soil acidity 3-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 10-11

Usage

The fruit are used for jam, jelly or wine. They are also used in drinks, soups and syrups. Fruit can be eaten fresh.
Uses carving dye environmental use food fuel gene source material medicinal ornamental stabilisation of sandy soils tanning timber wood
Edible fruits
Therapeutic use Diarrhea (bark), Dysentery (bark), Eye drops (bark), Pharyngitis (bark), Astringents (fruit), Diarrhea (leaf), Dysentery (leaf), Pain (leaf), Pharyngitis (leaf), Astringents (root), Diarrhea (root), Dysentery (root), Pharyngitis (root), Astringent (unspecified), Diarrhea (unspecified), Dysentery (unspecified), Fever (unspecified), Tonic (unspecified), Venereal (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown by seed. They can also be grown by cuttings or layering.
Mode cuttings seedlings
Germination duration (days) 10 - 21
Germination temperacture (C°) 18 - 21
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment soaking
Minimum temperature (C°) 1
Optimum temperature (C°) 21 - 26
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Coccoloba uvifera habit picture by Collados Ana (cc-by-sa)
Coccoloba uvifera habit picture by William Gustave (cc-by-sa)
Coccoloba uvifera habit picture by Collados Ana (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Coccoloba uvifera leaf picture by Kelley Clark (cc-by-sa)
Coccoloba uvifera leaf picture by Augustin Meignié (cc-by-sa)
Coccoloba uvifera leaf picture by Pascal Bourgeois (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Coccoloba uvifera flower picture by Michel L. (cc-by-sa)
Coccoloba uvifera flower picture by Mélanie Herteman (cc-by-sa)
Coccoloba uvifera flower picture by Jean-Christophe Lombardo (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Coccoloba uvifera fruit picture by Younes Tarari (cc-by-sa)
Coccoloba uvifera fruit picture by silvia venancio (cc-by-sa)
Coccoloba uvifera fruit picture by Joël HUAT (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Coccoloba uvifera world distribution map, present in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Barbados, Cook Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Grenada, French Guiana, Guam, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Kiribati, Saint Lucia, Mexico, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Montserrat, Martinique, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Réunion, Suriname, Turks and Caicos Islands, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Taiwan, Province of China, United States Minor Outlying Islands, United States of America, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), and Viet Nam

Conservation status

Coccoloba uvifera threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:693918-1
WFO ID wfo-0000613437
COL ID WL69
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 447455
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Polygonum uviferum Coccolobis uvifera Coccoloba uvifera