Coccoloba uvifera

(Linnaeus) Linnaeus

Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 1007. 1759.

Common names: Shore-grape uva de playa
Illustrated
Basionym: Polygonum uvifera Linnaeus Sp. Pl. 1: 365. 1753
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 484. Mentioned on page 483.

Plants with branches spreading or sprawling, 2–7 (–15) m. Stems: bark gray, peeling off in small white, gray, or brown flakes, inner bark light-brown; twigs green and puberulent when young, gray at maturity, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves: those of adventitious or juvenile shoots often much larger and of different shape from those of normal shoots; ocrea persistent proximally, deciduous distally, brown or reddish-brown, cylindric to funnelform, 3–8 mm, coriaceous proximally, membranous distally, margins oblique, glabrous or densely puberulent; petiole 5–15 mm, puberulent to pilose; blade pale green abaxially, green to bluish green adaxially, round to transversely elliptic, (6–) 10–20 (–27) × 6–20 (–27) cm, length equaling or less than width, coriaceous, base cordate, margins sometimes revolute, apex rounded to blunt or emarginate, abaxial surface dull, adaxial surface shiny or dull, minutely punctate, glabrous. Inflorescences 10–30 cm, puberulent or glabrous, pistillate pendent in fruit; peduncle 1–5 cm, glabrous. Pedicels 1–4 mm, glabrous. Flowers: tepals round to broadly elliptic, margins entire, apex obtuse. Staminate flowers 1–7 per ocreate fascicle. Pistillate flowers: tube obpyriform, 12–20 × 8–12 mm, becoming fleshy. Achenes 8–11 × 8–10 mm, shiny. 2n = 132.


Phenology: Flowering year-round.
Habitat: Sandy or rocky coastal hummocks, sand dunes. 0-10 m

Distribution

V5 1010-distribution-map.gif

Fla., Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America

Discussion

Coccoloba uvifera is an early colonizer of exposed, sandy shorelines. The wood has a specific gravity of 0.7, and a red sap obtained by cutting the bark has been used in commerce for tanning and dyeing (E. L. Little Jr. et al. 1969).

Pistillate inflorescences of some specimens of Coccoloba uvifera appear to bear clusters of up to five flowers at each node; all but one abort, leaving a single flower that produces a fruit. The pedicels of the abortive flowers usually are more slender than those of the fertile flowers.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"/2" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Coccoloba uvifera"
brown;black +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (1.1 cm11 mm <br />0.011 m <br />) +
3-gonous +
8mm;10mm +
bluish white +  and white +
elliptic +  and round +
obtuse;rounded;blunt or emarginate +
Craig C. Freeman +
(Linnaeus) Linnaeus +
cordate +
Polygonum uvifera +
less than width +
green +  and bluish green +
6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br /> (20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br />) +
round;transversely elliptic +
coriaceous +
foliaceous +  and perfoliate +
scale-like +
sprawling +  and spreading +
just below the soil surface or and above the soil surface +  and spreading +
Shore-grape +  and uva de playa +
Fla. +, Mexico +, West Indies +, Central America +  and South America +
adnate +  and connate +
brown +, gray +  and small white +
pistillate +  and staminate +
disarticulating +  and solid +
decumbent to erect +  and prostrate +
unwinged +  and winged +
black +, red +, brown +  and yellowish +
exserted +  and included +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
spheroidal +, 4-gonous +, lenticular +, biconvex +, discoid +, 3-gonous +  and 2-gonous +
Sandy or rocky coastal hummocks, sand dunes. 0-10 m +
glabrous +  and puberulent +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
nonmembranous +
persistent +
cauline +  and basal +
puberulent +  and glabrous +
lobed +, undulate +, crisped +, crenulate +  and entire +
swollen +
partly +  and foliaceous +
reddish-brown +  and brown +
deciduous +  and persistent +
cylindric +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
membranous +  and coriaceous +
anatropous +, , +  and orthotropous +
accrescent +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
spreading;erect +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
greenish white;white +
campanulate +
accrescent +  and nonaccrescent +
puberulent +  and pilose +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
Flowering year-round. +
(2-)3(-4)-carpellate +
rudimentary +
Syst. Nat. ed. +
slender;stout +
adventitious +
Illustrated +
rudimentary +
not scapose +
spreading +  and erect +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
penicillate +, fimbriate +  and capitate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
2-lobed +  and cylindric +
coriaceous +  and membranous +
distinct +
spreading;erect +
Coccoloba uvifera +
Coccoloba +
species +
monomorphic +  and sepaloid +
round +  and broadly elliptic +
coriaceous +
persistent +
1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
obpyriform +
8mm;12mm +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
gray +  and green +
pubescent +, glabrous +  and puberulent +
700 cm7,000 mm <br />7 m <br /> (1,500 cm15,000 mm <br />15 m <br />) +