Garden Life: Seagrape
There is an unusually large seagrape tree growing in the neighbor’s yard and extending its fruitful branches over our dock. For a long time the fruit it dropped on our concrete dock was only an interesting nuisance. Then Papa discovered that native Floridians made a seagrape jelly. He encouraged us girls to collect the fruit and try it, and, though the smell during cooking was discouraging, the resulting pink jelly quickly became a favorite. (I’ve blogged about it before.)
The seagrape or baygrape—a native to the coastal beaches of South Florida—is an evergreen tree in the buckwheat family. It is commonly used here as an ornamental shrub, and it is beautiful. The foliage is bronze when young and grows into large, leathery green leaves, often with red veining. In cool weather, the falling leaves are brilliant colors: scarlet, orange, yellow, and purple.
During the summer, long-hanging racemes are crowded with tiny buds and fragrant white flowers. (Wikipedia has a beautiful close-up of the flowers HERE.) Seagrapes are a dioecious species. There are separate male and female trees, and cross-pollination must occur if there is to be fruit. Ours is the fruit-bearing female. As you can see by the cluster of seagrapes in the background, the tree bears flowers and fruit simultaneously...
... even on a single raceme. Here, flowers continue to bloom beside the green fruit.
The seagrape bunches were especially crowded this year. The bees must have been busy this summer! Seagrape honey, I read, is pale-colored and spicy.
The seagrapes ripen to a pink-plum color. When fully ripened, they drop from the bunch to the ground below. Some of the tree branches extend over the water, and gigantic carp gather to eat the seagrapes as they fall.
The seagrapes have downy skin and juicy flesh. Most of the seagrape is actually a large pit, so it is not very satisfying to eat fresh, even if you enjoy the sweet-acid taste. We must compete with the birds and the ants for such perfect specimens as these.
The last few harvests have been light, so we combined them in the freezer until we had enough to make a batch of the jelly. Next Sister is our official maker of seagrape jelly, and she let me take these pictures while she worked. First the seagrapes must be washed and picked over.
The seagrapes are then boiled and strained. The whole house smells powerfully strong of seagrapes at this point. For me, this is a neutral smell, but it did chase some of the others out. (It may be worth noting here that even those who hate the smell of it cooking, love the jelly that later comes of it.)
Next Sister boiled the juice with lots of sugar and some pectin, and then processed it in sterilized canning jars.
The result was six jars of lovely pink jelly with a unique taste. We’ve heard it described as apple-like, grape-like, and even rhubarb-like. It’s wonderful on toast for breakfast or tea.
What are other uses for the seagrape tree (also called Hopwood or Horsewood)? I was interested to learn that the gum from the bark was used medicinally for throat ailments, and the root for dysentery. The wood is prized for cabinetmaking and carving, and when boiled makes a red dye. The fruit is used for wine-making in the West Indies.
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RACHEL said...
Wow, usually people hate seagrape trees because the fruit is always falling and making a mess. But you guys are always noticing things and using things to your advantage. Nice idea that looks yummy!
Saturday, September 24, 2011 04:39 PM
HANDMAIDEN said...
You have to collect fruit every morning if you want the choicest grapes, so, if you ask the harvesters, the seagrape is still something of a bother. ;-) You’re right, though. If you are resourceful, you will find all sorts of great uses for the very things you might have once resented.
We’re considering coco plum hedges for the front. That’s another native fruit that we hear makes a good jelly.
Monday, September 26, 2011 11:54 AM
LA MATER said...
“In cool weather, the falling leaves are brilliant colors: scarlet, orange, yellow, and purple.”
Unfortunately, this is not typical in our geographic zone, and that is exactly why this is the only tree we have found never to disappoint our preschoolers when we are in need of illustrating the “fall colors” of Florida for an autumn craft!
...number???
Monday, September 26, 2011 12:31 PM
LA MATER said...
“In cool weather, the falling leaves are brilliant colors: scarlet, orange, yellow, and purple.”
Unfortunately, this is not typical in our geographic zone, and that is exactly why this is the only tree we have found never to disappoint our preschoolers when we are in need of illustrating the “fall colors” of Florida for an autumn craft!
...number???
Monday, September 26, 2011 12:31 PM
HANDMAIDEN said...
I do “number” it very well. (For the possibly confused visitor... “Number” is an old family word for “remember.”)
Friday, November 4, 2011 12:29 PM
Friday, September 23, 2011