Thursday, March 3, 2011

Coccoloba uvifer

It seems like it's been ages since I've been blogging -- at least about plants!  We're gonna wrap up this week with some tropical plants my aunt photographed while in Florida a few weeks ago.  I love that these days, any one of my friends or family members can send me a text message with a photo of a plant and the simple question, "What is this?"

This plant was an easy call -- Coccoloba uvifera, or seagrape, is ubiquitous in Florida.  It's a multistemmed sprawling low tree with large, thick leaves.  The plant is incredibly tolerant to salt and wind.  The flowers are diminutive, but the fruit are pendulous bunches of grape-like berries.


The plant is native to Florida and the Caribbean and the fruit can be harvested to make a jelly.  The roots have been used to treat dysentery and a gum from the wood can be used as a remedy for sore throats.


Coccoloba literally means 'lobed fruit' and uvifera means 'bearing eggs' - presumably both refer to the distinctive fruit of this plant.

1 comment:

  1. Is this a relative of the jade plant. It looks like a huge jade plant, the branching.

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