Types of Seagrape – Beach or Pigeon Plum

Choose seagrape for a beach hedge or dune, or pigeon plum for a hammock or street tree.

Choose seagrape for a beach, or pigeon plum for a hammock

The first choice is the job. Seagrape is the round-leaf beach plant, often 10 to 30 feet in a garden and taller on a protected site. Female plants carry grape-like clusters about three-quarters of an inch across. [1] Pigeon plum is the more upright hammock tree, usually 15 to 40 feet, with 2-to-4-inch leaves and bark that peels in plates to show a dark purple inner bark. Its fruit is a small dark berry, not a grape cluster. [2] Seagrape belongs on beaches and dunes; pigeon plum grows in hammocks behind that line. [3] If the tag only says Coccoloba, look at whether you want the water line or a hammock, then pick that kind. A compact sea-plum hybrid some nurseries sell is not a third kind to buy here. [4]

Browse by kind

Match the beach job or the hammock job, then pick that kind. At the nursery, seagrape shows nearly round leaves with red veins; pigeon plum shows smaller ovals and, on a larger trunk, bark that flakes in plates. A pigeon plum will not fill a round-leaf seagrape screen, and a seagrape will not stay a neat street tree with that peeling purple bark. Care for the plant you already have on How to Grow Seagrape.

Seagrape

seagrape is the beach plant, often sold as sea grape or seaside-grape. Buy this group for a dune, a seaside hedge, or a twisted specimen with round leaves and grape-like fruit. It is Coccoloba uvifera, not a grapevine.

Pigeon plum

pigeon plum is the hammock tree, also called tie-tongue. Buy this group for a street, a parking island, or a hammock behind the dune. The leaves are smaller ovals, new growth flushes red, and the bark peels in plates. It is Coccoloba diversifolia, not seagrape.

If you want a beach hedge, buy seagrape — pigeon plum is the hammock tree.