Sea Beans – MINDING MY P'S WITH Q

There is nothing fancy about the Sea Grape. I love the plant/bush because it reminds me of the first time I vacationed in Jamaica. We traveled there with my son and daughter-in-law, her parents and sister, and it was there we first heard the news that a new grandchild was on the way. Sea Grapes bordered the walkways of the Runaway Bay Club Caribbean. They grow wild all over the island nation. I fell in love with them at first sight. Thick leaves, with red veins intersecting the two halves; I began to dream of how to grow one at home. Unfortunately, transporting seeds/plants from one country to another is prohibited. I was out of luck. Eventually, I did order some seeds online from Florida, but they never sprouted.

Flash forward to Sanibel Island, Autumn 2021. I once again found several sea beans on the beach. I soaked them, planted several, and a few grew for me. Oh, Happy Day, it turned out one of those sprouts was a Sea Grape.

Sea Bean – Drift seed, a seed of any of a number of tropical plants growing in coastal areas, the seeds of which are found floating upon ocean currents, by means of which the seeds are dispersed.
WordFinder

The Sea Grape has thrived, although it grows slowly. The newest leaf it developed is the largest so far. Sitting beside the plant is a teacup of shells also found on the Sanibel Island beaches. We were horrified by the hurricane that slammed into this area in October 2022. We keep track of the progress being made in rebuilding, and we will certainly visit again and support the community as soon as possible.

I subscribe to this wonderful shell seekers YouTube channel. This video shows both South West Florida beachcombing, and some of the devastation on Fort Myers Beach. If you miss summertime, and are in a state of winter-induced torpor, this video is a good way to dream of warmer days.

Sea beans, the name is surprisingly unknown to most people. Are they edible? No. Where do they grow? They self-sow in most cases, and are responsible for diverse plants finding root in new places.

Nickernuts, dove gray in color, like the sky before a storm. The seed coat is near impenetrable, almost as hard as the glass marbles they resemble in size. I planted the seeds in soil to no avail. I soaked them for days without any water absorption occurring, my next attempt might be drilling them with my Dremel tool.

These sea beans are stored in a hidden area in my home. Several of them appear to be the seeds of the Castor Bean plant. This plant is extremely toxic. I haven’t planted any of these seeds; I don’t want a Castor Bean plant growing in my home or garden because of possible danger to pets and children.

I managed to grow a few of the sea beans we collected in October on Sanibel Island, Florida. After soaking in water, they sprouted and grew slowly, but have been great fun to watch. The advice I read that sea beans might take a year to sprout is correct. The tiny sprig on the left appeared months after sowing.

Wordnik has a good definition:

Any of a diverse variety of fruits, seeds or disseminules of land plants that find their way into the world’s oceans and ride currents for months or years before washing up on distant beaches and coastlines.
~Wordnik

Want to learn more about sea beans? Check out this site: What’s A Sea Bean?