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Drift Seeds of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Complex
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Sea Heart sea bean
Chocolate sea bean
Drift seeds (also known as Sea-Beans) come from trees and vines that grow along tropical shores and rain forests all over the world. The seeds fall from their parent plant into waterways, such as the Amazon River, then drift through inlets to reach the ocean. They travel with ocean currents until they wash up on a beach somewhere, perhaps thousands of miles from their origin. Sea-beans are hard and buoyant, which helps them survive their long-distance voyage. The following are Drift seeds (Sea-Beans) found principally on the Matagorda Island portion of the Refuge Complex.
Hernandia Hernandia sonora   Sea Purse Dioclea reflexa
Box Fruit Barringtonia asiatica Gourd Cucurbitaceae
Candlenut Aleurites moluccana Starnut Astrocaryum spp.
Country Almond Terminalia catappa Coconut Cocos nucifera
True Sea-Bean Mucauna sloanei Cohune Attalea cohune
Bubblenut Sacoglottis amazonica Mango Mangifera indica
Donovan's Brain Andira galeottiana Prickly Palm Acrocomia spp.
Bay-Bean Canavalia rosea Calatola Calatola costaricensis
Chocolate Theobroma cacao Sea Heart Entada gigas
Spurge Euphorbiaceae Acorns Quercus spp.
Coralbean Erythrina spp. Black Pearl Sapindus saponaria
Sea-Coconut Manicaria saccifera Silk Cotton Ceiba pentandra
Pine Cone Pinus spp. Bull's Horn Acacia cornigera
Hog-Plum Spondias mombin Persoon Caryocar glabrum
Mary's Bean Merremia discoidesperma Antidote Vine Fevillea cordifolia
Manchineel Hippomane mancinella Red Mangrove Rhizophora mangle
Coinplant Dalbergia ecastaphyllum Gray Nickernut Caesalpinia bonduc
      Brown Nickernut Caesalpinia major

Reference: Dennis, John V. and Perry, E; Sea-Beans from the Tropics A Collector's Guide to Sea-Beans and other Tropical Drift on Atlantic Shores, 2003, Krieger Publishing Company.

Revision 2006
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