Seagrape is a coastal tree native to sandy beaches of Florida, the Caribbean and tropical America, grown for shade, its round leaves and grape-like fruit. It needs full sun, sandy well-drained soil and salt tolerance, and grows best in frost-free climates.
Family
Polygonaceae (Buckwheat family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly while young, then once established it tolerates drought and salt spray.
Soil
Sandy, well-drained soil; tolerates salty and alkaline soil.
Temperature
Frost-free tropical climate; protect below about 5 °C.
How easy
Easy
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
Florida to Peru, Caribbean to N. South America
Climate
wet tropical
About
Coccoloba uvifera is a species of tree and flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Its common names include seagrape and baygrape. It is native to coastal beaches throughout tropical America and the Caribbean. It has edible fruit, among other uses.
Where it grows
The species is native to Florida, Mexico, Central America, western South America, and the Caribbean (including the Greater and Lesser Antilles), the Bahamas, and Bermuda, where it is found on coastal beaches.
Uses
Coccoloba uvifera is a popular ornamental plant in south Florida yards. It serves as a dune stabilizer and protective habitat for small animals. Tall sea grape plants behind beaches help prevent sea turtles from being distracted by lights from nearby buildings. The sap has been used for dyeing and tanning leather. The wood has occasionally been used in furniture, as firewood, or for making charcoal. The fruits of the sea grape may be eaten raw, cooked into jellies and jams, or fermented into sea grape wine. The leaves of the sea grape can be made into a tea and honey bees can make a certain type of honey with the nectar of the sea grape flowers.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Coccoloba uvifera by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.