What is a Cocoplum, Anyway?

摘要

For years Bev Alfeld had noticed during her snowbird trips to Florida that some seemingly nondescript plants used as ornamentals and for beach stabilization were also bearing fruit. So she decided to learn more about it, and ended up talking with Stephen Brown of the University of Florida and the Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences. And she learned quite a lot.Cocoplum is native to south Florida, the Carribbean, Central America, northwestern South America and tropical western Africa. It has become naturalized in many areas of the world where conditions allow, such as Polynesia, India, Seychelles, Vietnam and Melanesia. I have seen it growing on Cho-koloskee Island and other areas of the Everglades, in pine flatwoods, on beaches and in Cypress stands of South Florida.