Download Coccoloba uvifera - Lee County Extension

Stephen H. Brown, Horticulture Agent
Kim Cooprider, Master Gardener
Lee County Extension, Fort Myers, Florida
(239) 533-7513 [email protected]
http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/hort/GardenHome.shtml
Coccoloba uvifera
Family: Polygonaceae
Common Names: Seagrape; seaside-grape;
cocoloba; uva de playa; Jamaican kino
Fort Myers
Sanibel Causeway, Florida
Early June
Synonyms (Discarded Names): Coccoloba diversifolia; C. laurifolia
Origin: Mid-Florida coastal regions southward
through the Keys; Bahamas; Caribbean; Belize to
Colombia and Ecuador
U.S.D.A. Zone: 9b-12 (26°F Minimum)
Growth Rate: Moderate
Plant Type: Tree or shrub
Leaf Persistence: Semi-evergreen in spring
Flowering Months: Usually some weeks from
April to June
Flower Color: White
Light Requirements: Full to partial sun
Soil Salt Tolerance: High
Drought Tolerance: High
Wind Tolerance: High
Soil Requirements: Wide
Nutritional Requirements: Low
Major Potential Pests: Aphids; leaf spots;
seagrape borers
Typical Dimensions: 35’x 35’
Propagation: Seeds; ground layering, cuttings
Human Hazards: None
Uses: Shade tree; specimen; hedge; roadways;
seaside; parking lots
Early February
Natural Geographic Distribution
In its native range, this tropical plant was limited to sandy and rocky seashores, and along coastal hammocks and grasslands and limestone thickets. In the United States, seagrape is native from mid-Florida
including Volusia County on the Atlantic coast and Pinellas County on the Gulf coast southward
throughout the Keys. It occurs naturally in all of Central America to Ecuador and on the islands of the
Caribbean and the Bahamas. It has been widely planted outside its native range.
Ecological Niche
Seagrape is one of the most commonly used native plants in south Florida. Highly salt tolerant, it is often planted to stabilize beach edges. It is an important part of the dune system for many South Florida
beaches. Seagrape act as a continuous sand trap. The accumulation of sand by the leaves, limbs and
stalks plays a major role in the construction of the beach and dune system. To put it simply, sand stored
in the dunes provides protection to houses and other structures from the effects of coastal storms.
The green below beginning at the edge of the sand is a forest of seagrape kept prostrate by the prevailing winds
St. Kitts, Eastern Caribbean, late July
Growth Habit
Seagrape can take on a variety of shapes, depending upon environmental conditions. On dry wind-swept
beaches it may be short and prostrate. Under those conditions it has a habit of stretching its heavy limbs
along the sand to occupy the undergrowth. Elsewhere, it can become a tree up to 50 feet tall and over 24
inches in trunk diameter. It grows equally well inland or on the coast. The tree often has several leaning
trunks and crooked branches. Even single-trunked specimens often branch close to the ground. Large
trunks may be buttressed, fluted, or angled. The branches droop as the tree grows and will require pruning for vehicular or pedestrian clearance beneath the canopy.
The trunk has a smooth, pale gray bark that exfoliates in thin plates. After which it becomes distinctively
mottled over time with whitish, gray and brown colors while retaining its smooth texture. Twigs are
green when young, becoming gray or sometimes brown as they age. The twigs are ringed at the nodes
with a gray or brown membranous sheath known as an ocrea that is a modified stipule. Ocreae are common to many species of Polygonaceae. The sapwood is light brown, and the heartwood is reddish
brown. The wood is hard and moderately heavy with a specific gravity of 0.7. The tree is semi-evergreen
in the spring. New foliage appears as quickly as the old foliage falls.
Grenada, Eastern Caribbean
Fort Myers Beach, Florida
Early February
Late June
Grenada, Eastern Caribbean
DelRay Beach, Florida
Intact bark
Mottled trunk
Pine Island, Florida
Exfoliating bark
DelRay Beach, Florida
Petiole
Ocreae
Fort Myers Beach, Florida
Leaves
The leaves are alternate, simple, entire and orbiculate in shape (almost circular). The distinctive leaves
are slightly broader than long, mostly 3-10 inches long and 4-12 inches across and heart-shaped at the
base. The short petioles are 1/2 to 1.0 inches long and maroon colored. Leaf veins are prominent. From
March to April most trees quickly exchange old leaves for new ones. Trees are semi-evergreen at that
time. Old leaves dry out and look scorched before falling. New emerging leaves are reddish and become
green and thick at maturity. Throughout the year, leaf drop is constant and fallen leaves take a long time
to decay. At 30°F, leaves are bronzed by cold.
Alternating leaves
Orbiculate leaf shape
Flowers
Flowers mostly appear in the spring shortly after new leaves emerge. Considered inconspicuous, the
flowers nonetheless are quite showy when the plant is in full bloom. They are tiny whitish green and are
held on terminal and lateral racemes. Racemes are dense and narrow and are up to 12 inches long. They
are generally stiffly pendulous but can be positioned at any angle. Flowers are on short stalks, 1/16-1/8
inches long. Seagrape is dioecious having both male and female flowers on different plants. Thus the
species is considered to have both male and female plants. Nonetheless male and female racemes appear
quite similar. However, male flowers have 8 white stamens that are united at the base and a rudimentary
whitish pistil. Stamens of female flowers are smaller than those of male flowers but are nonfunctional.
Racemes are generally stiffly pendulous but can be positioned at all angles
A shrub loaded with racemes
A terminally produced raceme
Sanibel Causeway, Florida, mid March
A late Bloomer
DelRay Beach, early June
The larger pistil has a 1-celled ovary and 3 spreading styles. The flowers contain much nectar making
seagrape a locally important nectar plant for bees and other insects. The flowers have no discernable
fragrance contrary to what is reported in much of the literature.
Fruit
Trees are dioecious and cross-pollination is necessary for fruit development. Only female plants produce
fruits. As the flowers fade, the fruit begin to form and their weight draws the cluster downwards. The
fruit becomes an ornamental feature competing with the leaves. Seagrape fruit are elliptic or egg-shaped
achenes about 3/4 inch long. Immature green fruit are formed by June. They are as tightly packed as the
flowers they replaced. There are approximately 120 achenes on the average cluster which are up to 12
inches long.
In late summer and fall, the fruit mature to a purple color. They contain a single elliptic seed. Unlike
conventional grapes that ripen together in a cluster, seagrape ripen individually. A cluster may have
some fruit in it that are green, some that are ripe and others that represent every degree in between. Mature achenes are edible straight off the plant or when made into preserve, jam or wine. Before the introduction of modern candies, the fruit served as a plentiful snack for many local children. Wildlife frequently visit the plant to feed on the fruit.
Immature fruit, late June
Mature fruit, late August
Propagation
Seagrape is propagated from seeds, cutting and by ground layering. Seeds do not store long and should
be sown soon after collection for highest percentage germination. In the latter technique, part of the bark
is skinned away on a branch close to the ground. At the point where the bark is scored, a mound of soil
is piled over it. The branch will develop roots in the mounded soil and after about 4 to 6 months it can be
cut from the parent plant and placed on its own out in the landscape.
Uses
Beach communities often employ the plant as shrubs or trees providing corridors for the public from
street or parking lot to the beach. Whether planted on the coast or inland, its form is widely variable
from a 4-foot hedge to a large 35-foot shade tree. Seagrape hedges are especially useful for estates along
the coast that require a tall, sturdy hedge to protect against the wind and salt spray. The species is commonly used as foundation plantings for large buildings, where it will lend a tropical effect.
People are seen walking from beach to street through a corridor of saagrapes
Del Ray Beach, Florida
Portion of an access corridor 60-70 feet long
Del Ray Beach, Florida
Planting and Maintenance Guidelines
Seagrape can be planted anytime in South Florida. It should be planted in full sun or very light shade.
Irrigate it for establishment and later for more rapid growth. Its best features are displayed when grown
with room to expand. The tree sheds its leaves in the spring and replaces them simultaneously. In more
formal situations raking of leaves should be considered. The leaves are slow to decompose. Do not plant
female trees where their fallen fruit will be a nuisance.
The tree will likely grow with several trunks but it can be trained into a single trunk specimen. Seagrape
is susceptible to breakage either at the crotch due to poor collar formation, or the wood itself may be
weak and tend to break. Be sure branches do not develop embedded bark, since this will cause them to
be poorly attached to the trunk and could split from the trunk. When grown as a hedge, it is best hand
pruned since its large leaves do not lend themselves well to shearing.
Through numerous surveys of wind damage to trees after the passage of hurricanes in Florida and the
Caribbean, seagrape has been determined to have medium-high resistance to hurricane force winds.
Beach Pruning Concerns
The Florida legislature recognized the importance of coastal plant species. Therefore Florida law states
that no person, firm, corporation or governmental agency shall damage or cause to be damaged sand
dunes or the vegetation growing on the dune system (subparagraph 161.053(2)(a), Florida Statutes).
Consequently, it is the policy of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to protect native
salt-tolerant vegetation. Property owners or their agents proposing to alter native vegetation seaward of
the Department’s Coastal Construction Control Line must apply for a permit if the alteration can be expected to damage the plants. The department will exempt maintenance of seagrape from the permitting
requirements when the maintenance will not damage or destroy the plant. Persons intending to maintain
native vegetation seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line must also consider the impacts to
sea turtles. Visit the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website for more information.
Or contact the sea turtle conservation program at (850) 922-4330.
A Master Gardener survey crew by a Hurricane Charley damaged seagrape on Captiva. The barrier island
experienced wind speed of 140 mph. August, 2004.
The same tree one year later
Captiva, Florida, August, 2005
Disease, Insect Pests amd Disorders
Disease and insect problems of seagrape are usually brief in appearance and are not considered major
problems. Under densely shaded canopies and high moisture, heavy lichen growth on the trunk and various wood rot can be an issue. This is best controlled by thinning the canopy to allow for good air movement. Symptomatic branches should be pruned out and discarded. Be sure that all pruning efforts are
done under dry conditions. Irrigation risers should be positioned, so that water does not contact the trunk
and lower branches. During the winter time when ambient air temperatures cool, the leaves may develop
circular (rings) to irregularly shaped leaf spots that are typically red in color. This is a physiological disorder and a response to cool temperature. When warmer conditions develop the new growth will not be
affected. Aphids may distort the growth of new leaves. The damage caused by seagrape borers is not
readily noticeable and only in rare cases does extensive dieback of twigs occurs. Pruning and destroying
twigs infected with the borers is a method of effectively reducing borer populations.
Aaron Palmateer
Heavy lichen growth and canker caused by wood rot
fungi on a branch
Aphid damage, Fort Myers, early May
Leaf spots caused by winter temperatures,
early January
Close-up of the damaging aphids
References
Broschat, T. and Meerow, A. 2001. Betrock’s Reference Guide to Florida Landscape Plants. Betrock
Information Systems, Inc.
Duryea Mary et. al. 2007. Hurricanes and the Urban Forest: Effects on Tropical and Subtropical Trees
Species. II. ISA
Gilman, Edward and Watson, Dennis. 2011. Coccoloba uvifera: Seagrape. ENH334. UF/IFAS, Gainesville, Florida
Howard, Forrest W. 2011. Seagrape Borer, Hexeris enhydris Grote (Insects: Lepidoptera: Thyridideae)
EENY 345. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Little, Elbert L., Jr. and Wadsworth, Frank H. 1964. Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Llamas, Kristen. 2003. Tropical Flowering Plants: A guide to identification and cultivation. Timber
Press, Portland, Oregon
Morton, Julia F. Trees, Shrubs and Plants for Florida Landscaping Native and Exotic. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Nelson Gil. 2003. Florida’s Best Native Landscape Plants:200 Readily Available Species for Homeowners and Professionals. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Stresau, Frederic B. Florida, My Eden. 1986. Florida Classics Library, Port Salerno, Florida
Workman, Richard. 1980. Growing Native: Native plants for landscape use in Coastal South Florida.
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, Inc. Sanibel, Florida
Seagrape Trimming Guidelines. 2009. Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Useful Links
South Florida Native Plants Fact Sheets
Flowering Trees Fact Sheets
Bedding and Color Plants fact Sheet
Jacaranda Fact Sheet
Florida Landscape YouTube Channel
This fact sheet was reviewed by Aaron J. Palmateer, UF Tropical REC, Homestead; Peggy Cruz, Lee
County Extension; Karen Headlee, Lee County Extension; Holly Downing, City of Sanibel; Jenny Evans, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, religion, age, disability,
sex, sexual orientation, martial status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension
Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. 7/2012.