✓ Nontoxic

Pigeon Plum

Coccoloba diversifolia

Entirely nontoxic. Fruit is edible and sweet. Related to sea grape. Safe for all ages.

The sea grape's lesser-known cousin. Pigeon plum is a native hardwood tree with smooth, pale bark and small purple fruit that birds go crazy for. It's in the same family as sea grape (both are Coccoloba) but with much smaller, more traditionally-shaped leaves. The fruit is sweet and edible — a genuine wild food hiding in plain sight in Miami's urban canopy.

Where to Find It

Miami Beach Botanical Garden, scattered in older residential areas and parks. More common on the mainland in tropical hardwood hammocks. Look for the smooth, pale bark and small purple fruits.

Key Features

●Smooth, pale bark — almost white on young trees
●Small purple fruit in clusters — sweet and edible (birds' favorite)
●Related to sea grape — same family (Polygonaceae)
●Native to South Florida's tropical hardwood hammocks
●Evergreen canopy provides year-round shade
●Much smaller leaves than its sea grape cousin

What Falls From This Tree

🍃Small purple fruit (attracts birds — often eaten before hitting the ground)

🍃Small leaves

Ecological Role

A native canopy tree of the tropical hardwood hammock. Critical food source for white-crowned pigeons (the 'pigeon' in pigeon plum), mockingbirds, and dozens of other bird species. The dense canopy provides nesting habitat. One of the native species displaced by Brazilian pepper invasion.

Fun Fact

The white-crowned pigeon — the bird this tree is named for — is a threatened species in Florida that depends heavily on pigeon plum fruit. These pigeons commute daily between their nesting colonies in the mangrove islands of Florida Bay and mainland hammocks where pigeon plums grow. Some fly over 30 miles each way, every day, just to eat these fruits.

Activities (1)

Wild Fruit Tasting & Bird Connection

All ages15-20 minutes

When fruit is in season, taste a pigeon plum and then watch the birds that depend on this tree. Connect the dots between a tree, its fruit, and the wildlife that can't live without it.

Materials

A fruiting pigeon plum tree, patience for bird watching

Steps

1.Find ripe purple fruit (either fallen or low-hanging)
2.Taste one — it's sweet, like a mild grape with a large seed
3.Now watch the tree — within a few minutes, birds will come for the fruit
4.Count how many different bird species visit
5.Discuss: the white-crowned pigeon flies 30+ miles daily just to eat these fruits. This tree and that bird evolved together.
6.Discuss: when we plant native trees instead of non-native ornamentals, we're feeding the wildlife that depends on them

Mess Level: None

Learning: Food webs and ecological dependencies. Native plants supporting native wildlife. Foraging skills and plant identification.

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