U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Drift Seeds of
Aransas National Wildlife
Refuge Complex
Introduction
True Sea-Bean
Mucuna sloanei
Drift seeds (also known as SeaCohune
Beans) come from trees and vines
Attalea cohune
that grow along the tropical
Bubblenut
shores and rain forests all over
Sacoglottis amazonica
the world. The seeds fall from
Mango
their parent plant into
Mangifera indica
waterways, such as the Amazon
Donovan’s Brain
River, then drift through inlets to
Andira galeottiana
reach the ocean. They travel with Prickly Palm
ocean currents until they wash up
Acrocomia spp.
on a beach somewhere, perhaps
Bay-Bean
thousands of miles from their
Canavalia rosea
origin. Sea-Beans are hard and
Calatola
buoyant, which helps them
Calatola costaricensis
survive their long-distance
Chocolate
voyage. The following are Drift
Theobroma cacao
seeds (Sea-Beans) found
Sea Heart
principally on the Matagorda
Entada gigas
Island portion of the Refuge.
Spurge
Euphorbiaceae
Common Name
Acorns
Scientific Name
Quercus spp.
Coralbean
Hernandia
Erythrina spp.
Hernandia sonora
Black Pearl
Sea Purse
Sapindus saponaria
Dioclea reflexa
Sea-Coconut
Box Fruit
Manicaria saccifera
Barringtonia asiatica
Silk Cotton
Gourd
Ceiba pentandra
Cucurbitaceae
Pine Cone
Candlenut
Pinus spp.
Aleurites moluccana
Bull’s Horn
Starnut
Acacia cornigera
Astrocaryum spp.
Hog-Plum
Country Almond
Spondias mombin
Terminalia catappa
Persoon
Coconut
Caryocar glabrum
Cocos nucifera
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
John V. and Perry E. Dennis
Sea-Beans from the Tropics: A
Collector’s Guide to Sea-Beans
and other Tropical Drift on
Atlantic Shores.
Krieger Publishing Company.
2003.
May 2006
