Seagrape (Coccoloba uvifera)

Description:

The seagrape trees are blooming. Thanks to a variety of busy pollinators, each of the tiny 5mm flowers will become a tasty purple seagrape. As a child, our white t-shirts were often stained with indelible purple seagrape juice. This one lives on Munyon Island in the Lake Worth Lagoon. The nutritious fruit can be eaten raw or made into jellies, jams or wine. However, seagrapes are a protected species on public lands in Florida because they are important beach stabilizers. Their close cousins the pigeon plums are blooming now too! Both are members of the buckwheat family.