BUCKWHEAT FAMILY (POLYGONACEAE) 



28. Uva de playa, seagrape 



Usually limited to sandy and rocky seashores 

 and coastal thickets, this familiar small tree or 

 shrub is easily identified by: (1) the rounded or 

 kidney-shaped thick and leathery leaves slightly 

 broader than long, 3-6 inches long and 4-8 inches 

 broad, heart-shaped at base, with short petiole and 

 a reddish-brown membranous sheath (ocrea) 

 %-% inch high around stem; (2) midrib, lai-ger 

 veins, and young and very old leaves often red- 

 dish; (3) the numerous small whitish or greenish- 

 white flowers 3jg inch across in narrow terminal 

 and lateral clusters 4—9 inches long; and (4) the 

 drooping grapelike clusters of crowded purple 

 fruits about % inch long, elliptic or egg-shaped, 

 and edible. 



Varying greatly in size from a low prostrate 

 shrub on wind-swept beaches to a small, straggly 

 or wide spreading tree to 30 feet in height and 1 

 foot in trunk diameter (rarely to 2V2 feet), ever- 

 green, with rounded crown of few coarse branches 

 and often branching near base. Sometimes a 

 larger tree in protected or favorable sites. The 

 smoothish thin bark is gi'ay, on large trunks peel- 

 ing oif in small flakes and becoming mottled whit- 

 ish, liglit gray, and light brown. Inner bark is 

 light brown ancl bi( ter. The stout S]n-eading twigs 

 are green and minutely hairy when young, becom- 

 ing gray, with leaf sheaths and ring scars at nodes. 



The leaves are alternate on petioles 1/4-1/^ inch 

 long. Tlie blades, often turned on edge vertically, 

 have margins slightly curved under and are hair- 

 less or nearly so. the up]3er surface green or blue 

 green and the lower surface paler. 



Erect flower clusters (narrow racemes) 4-9 

 inches long have numerous fragrant flowers on 

 short stalks Vje-^/s inch long, male and female on 

 different trees (dioecious). The male flower has 

 n greenish-white basal tube (hypanthium) i/^g 

 inch long and broad bearing 5 spreading rounded 

 white calyx lobes more than i/jg inch long: 8 

 stamens united at base; and rudimentary pistil. 

 In the female flower the stamens ai-e small, and 

 the larger pistil has a 1-celled ovary and 3 styles. 



The fruit has a thin fleshy covering (hypan- 

 thium) with calyx at apex, sour or sweetish, and 

 enclosing 1 elliptic seed (akene) % inch long. 

 Flowering and fruiting through theVear. 



The sapwood is light bi-own, and the heartwood 

 is reddish brown. The wood is hard, moderately 

 heavy (specific gravity 0.7), and very susceptible 

 to attack by dry-wood termites. It' takes a fine 

 polish but is little used in Puerto Rico except for 

 posts and fuel. Straight pieces sliould be suited 

 for wood turning. Elsewhere, uses for furniture 

 and cabinetwork have been reported. 



Coccoloba uvifera (L.) L. 



The bark contains tannin, and the astringent 

 roots and liark have been used in medicines else- 

 where. West Indian or Jamaican kino, an astrin- 

 gent red sap exuding or extracted from cut bark, 

 formerly was in commerce for tanning and dyeing. 



Jelly and a winelike beverage can be prepared 

 from the fruits, which also are eaten raw. 

 Bunches of fruits in conelike packets formed by 

 rolling the leaves have been sold on the streets. 

 Early Spanish colonists sometimes used the fresh 

 thick leaves as a substitute for paper, scratching 

 messages with a pin or other sharp point. 



This is one of the first woody species to become 

 established on sandy shores, being more hard}' in 

 the.se exposed places and more tolerant of salt 

 than most trees. For these reasons it is often 

 planted as an ornamental or windbreak along the 

 coast. Since jiropagation is from cuttings, female 

 plants should be selected for fruits. Also fre- 

 quently grown in southern Florida in landscaping 

 and as a hedge trimmed to shape. A good honey 

 plant. 



Very probably seagrape was the first land plant 

 of America seen by Christopher Columbus, ac- 

 cording to Nathaniel L. Britton. That authority, 

 who visited San Salvador (AVatling) Island in 

 1907, reported this to be the most conspicuous 

 jdant nearest the ocean. However, that island ap- 

 l)arently was not the first discovered. 



On nearly all sandy and rocky seashores and 

 coastal thickets in Puerto Rico, Mona, Desecheo, 

 Icacos, Culebra, Vieques, St. Croix, St. Thomas, 

 St. John, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, and Anegada. 



R.\.NGE. — Widely distributed on tropical Ameri- 

 can shores. From central and southern Florida, 

 including Florida Keys, and Bermuda throughout 

 West Indies from Bahamas and Cuba to Trinidad 

 and Tobago, and Curacao and Aruba. On At- 

 lantic coast of the continent from noi-thern Mexico 

 to Colombia, Venezuela, and Guianas. 



Other combion names. — uva de mar, uvero 

 (Puerto Rico) ; grape (Virgin Islands) ; uva de 

 playa, uva, uvero (Spanish) ; uva de mar, uva 

 caleta (Dominican Republic) ; uva caleta 

 (Cuba): papaturro (Honduras, Costa Rica); 

 papaturro extranjero (Nicaragua) ; seagrape 

 (United States, English) ; seaside-grape 

 (Jamaica, Trinidad, British Guiana) ; grape 

 (British Honduras) ; raisin la mer (Haiti) ; raisin 

 l)ord-de-mer, raisinier bord-de-mer (Guadeloupe, 

 French Guiana) ; zeedreifi, dreifi, dreifi di laman, 

 seagrape (Dutch West Indies) ; druif, zeedruif 

 (Surinam). 



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