Drift Fruits

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An Assortment of Tropical Drift Fruits & Seeds

Most of these disseminules are dried fruits, endocarps and portions of fruits that were
washed ashore on tropical beaches of Caribbean islands and tropical America. They
came from trees and shrubs growing in tidal marshlands and lowland river valleys.

a b c d e f g h i i i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w
Click On Fruit Or Seed to Identify It

See Articles About Botanical Jewelry & Drift Seeds:    Jewelry     Drift Seeds 
Drift Seeds & Fruits Mounted In A Glass Shadow Box:    Shadow Box   

  1. Seed pod from Prioria copaifera (Fabaceae): A swamp tree from the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.

    See Article About Prioria In Costa Rica

  2. Endocarp from Calatola costaricensis (Icacinaceae): A Central American swamp tree.

    Another Image Of Calatola costaricensis

  3. Seed pod of Hymenaea courbaril (Fabaceae), also called West Indian locust: A rain forest tree of Central America and The Caribbean islands. It is the source of copal resin, and its ancestor (H. protera) is the source of New World amber.

    See Amber: Nature's Transparent Tomb
    West Indian Locust In The Virgin Islands

  4. Seed-bearing fruit of Trapa bicornis (Trapaceae): A Freshwater Asian aquatic plant.

    See Article About The Water Caltrop

  5. Fibrous, seed-bearing mesocarp of Cerbera odollan (Apocynaceae): An Asian shrub of mud flats and river deltas.

    Another Species Of Cerbera In Full Bloom

  6. Dry fruit of Heritiera littoralis (Sterculiaceae), also known as puzzle fruit: An Asian tree of mud flats and river deltas.

  7. Large seed of Cycas circinalis (Cycadaceae): A coastal species of southeast Asia with buoyant seeds.

    Read About Cycads & Continental Drift

  8. Dried fruit from Grias cauliflora (Lecythidaceae), also known as anchovy-pear: A swamp tree from marshlands of South America.

  9. Spiny fruit and seed-bearing endocarp of Apeiba aspera (Tiliaceae): A Costa Rican tree in the basswood family.

    Additional Photos Of The Monkeycomb Fruit

  10. Seed-bearing endocarp of Aleurites molucanna (Euphorbiaceae), also known as the kukui nut: An Asian tree that is naturalized throughout the Hawaiian islands.

    Photos Of The Kukui Nut & Tung Oil Tree

  11. Dried fruit of Pelliciera rhizophorae (Theaceae), also known as the tea mangrove: A tropical American mangrove of tidal swamplands.

    Photos Of The Red, Black & Tea Mangroves

  12. Seed-bearing mesocarp of Terminalia catappa (Combretaceae), also known as the tropical almond: A Malaysian tree that is naturalized throughout tropical coastlines of the world. This is one of the most common tropical drift fruits. It was even reported along the Oregon Coast, probably carried by the Kuroshio Current into the North Pacific Current, and then southward via the California Current.

  13. Seed-bearing legume of Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Fabaceae), also known as the guanacaste or earpod: A large rain forest tree native to the Guanacaste Province of Costa Rica and naturalized throughout tropical regions of the world.

    See Photo Of Guanacaste Seed Necklace

  14. Large seed of Omphalea diandra (Euphorbiaceae), also known as the Jamaican navel spurge: A trailing or climbing shrub of New World tidal swamps and rivers.

  15. Mesocarp of Spondias mombin (Anacardiaceae), also known as the hog plum: A widespread tree of the New World tropics with a fleshy, edible fruit. Like the related mango, the dried, wave-worn, fibrous mesocarp becomes a common drift disseminule.

    See The Fleshy Fruits Of Spondias mombin
    See The Related Mango (Mangifera indica)

  16. Seed of Pouteria sapota, incorrectly listed as Calocarpum mammosum (Sapotaceae), also known as the mamey sapote: A widespread tropical American tree with a large, fleshy, edible fruit and large seed. Another tropical American species called eggfruit (Pouteria campechiana) has smaller seeds. The dried, wave-worn, fruits and seeds of both species occasionally wash ashore on beaches of the Caribbean islands, Mexico and the southeastern United States.

    Fleshy Fruits Of Mamey Sapote & Eggfruit
    See The Dried Fruit Of A Mammee Apple

  17. Dry fruit of Raphia taedigera (Arecaceae), also known as the swamp palm: A tropical American palm that is common along lowland waterways and canals on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica.

    See The Swamp Palm Of Costa Rica

  18. Seed of Phytelephas aequatorialis (Arecaceae), also known as the ivory-nut palm: A tropical rain forest palm native to South America. The hard endosperm of the seed is a source of vegetable ivory.

    See Palms Used For Vegetable Ivory

  19. Seed-bearing legume fruit of Pterocarpus officinalis (Fabaceae), also known as the wingnut or bloodwood: A striking tree native to coastal swamplands of the New World tropics.

    See Pterocarpus On The Island Of Dominica

  20. Seed-bearing endocarp of Sacoglottis amazonica (Humiriaceae), also known as grenade pod because of its multifaceted surface that superficially resembles a hand grenade: A small tree native to rivers and deltas of the Amazon and Orinoco Basins.

    A Grenade Pod Compared With A Real Grenade

  21. Seed of Mora oleifera (Fabaceae): A large tree native to coastal marshlands and estuaries along the Pacific coast of tropical America.

    See The Large Cotyledons Of Mora oleifera

  22. Fruit bract of Hura crepitans (Euphorbiaceae), also called the sandbox tree: A thorn-covered tree native to the rain forests of tropical America.

    See The Exploding Fruits Of The Sandbox Tree

  23. Endocarp of Elaeocarpus grandis (Eleocarpaceae), also called the blue marble tree: An Australian tree with intricately-sculptured, seed-bearing endocarps.

    See The Colorful Fruits Of The Blue Marble Tree

Swamp palms (Raphia taedigera) line a canal south of Tortuguero in Costa Rica. The hard fruits sometimes reach the ocean and wash ashore on tropical beaches.

Shadow box arrangement by Elaine M. Armstrong

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