Coccoloba

Coccoloba
Coccoloba uvifera (seagrape) bush
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Subfamily: Eriogonoideae
Genus: Coccoloba
P.Browne
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • Campderia Benth.
  • Coccolobis P.Browne, orth. var.
  • Guaiabara Mill.
  • Guiabara Adans.
  • Lyperodendron Willd. ex Meisn.
  • Naucorephes Raf.
  • Uvifera L. ex Kuntze

Coccoloba is a genus of 177 species of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae, which is native to the Neotropics. There is no overall English name for the genus, although many of the individual species have widely used common names.

Range

The genus is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, in South America, the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico, with two species extending into Florida.

Description

Coccoloba arborescens

Species in the genus are shrubs, trees, and lianas, and are mostly evergreen. The leaves are alternate, often large (to very large in some species; up to 2.5m (8 feet) long in C. gigantifolia), with the leaves on juvenile plants often larger and of different shape to those of mature plants. The flowers are produced in spikes. The fruit is a three-angled achene, surrounded by an often brightly coloured fleshy perianth, edible in some species, though often astringent. Species in the genus have been characterized as dioecious, but this is unclear. Trioecy has been documented in C. cereifera.

Species

177 species are accepted.

Other sources:

Ecology

The species Coccoloba cereifera is notable for being restricted to an area of only some 26 square km on a single low peak near Serra do Cipó National Park, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

Cultivation and uses

One species, Coccoloba uvifera (Seagrape) is commonly cultivated for its edible fruit, and the genus name is sometimes used to denote this species.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Coccoloba P.Browne". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  2. ↑ Acevedo-Rodriguez, Pedro; Strong, Mark (2012). "Catalog of Seed Plants of the West Indies" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Botany. 98: 1–1221. doi:10.5479/si.0081024X.98.1.
  3. 1 2 Flora of North America: Coccoloba
  4. 1 2 Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
  5. ↑ J.G. Rohwer, Tropical Plants of the World (New York: Sterling, 2002)
  6. ↑ Howard, Richard A. (1949). "The Genus Coccoloba in Cuba". Journal of the Arnold Arboretum. 30 (4): 388–424. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.18052. JSTOR 43782355.
  7. ↑ Madriz, Rosario; Ramirez, Nelson (1996–1997). "Biologia reproductiva de Coccoloba uvifera (Polygonaceae) una especie poligamo-dioica". Revista de Biología Tropical. 44(3)/45(1): 105–115.
  8. ↑ Silva, Clice Alexandre; Oliva, Marco Antonio; Vieria, Milene Faria; Fernandes, Geraldo Wison (2008). "Trioecy in Coccoloba cereifera Schwacke (Polygonaceae), a Narrow Endemic and Threatened Tropical Species". Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology. 51 (5): 1003–1010. doi:10.1590/S1516-89132008000500017.
  9. ↑ "Amazonian Tree With Human-Sized Leaves Finally Gets New Species Recognition". EcoWatch. 2019-11-28. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  10. ↑ Timyan, J. (2022). "Coccoloba pauciflora". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022 e.T188895851A188913988. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T188895851A188913988.en. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  11. ↑ USDA Plants Profile: Coccoloba
  12. ↑ Global Compendium of Weeds: Coccoloba acuminata
  13. ↑ Plants of Hawaii: Polygonaceae Archived 2008-05-04 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ Melo, E.; Cid Ferreira, C.A.; Gribel, R. (11 November 2019). "[Botany • 2019] Coccoloba gigantifolia (Polygonaceae) • A New Species of Coccoloba P. Browne from the Brazilian Amazon with Exceptionally Large Leaves". Species New to Science. novataxa.blogspot.com. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  15. ↑ Katia Torres Ribeiro; G. Wilson Fernandes (1999). "Geographic distribution of Coccoloba cereifera Schw. (Polygonaceae), a narrow endemic plant from Serra do Cipó, Brazil" (PDF). BIOS, Belo Horizonte. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06.