Sea Purslane or Shoreline Seapurslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum) is a mat-forming, creeping seaside plant in coastal areas. It helps stabilize shorelines and dunes and is very useful for preventing erosion. It is native to the southeastern coastal US from North Carolina south through Florida, the Keys and throughout much of or all of the Caribbean.

It has thin, short, leathery leaves that are about 1″ long and thick, smooth stems of up to 3 feet. It also has attractive, small, somewhat inconspicuous white to purple or pinkish blooms. The tiny flowers are solitary in the leaf axils and bloom all year.

The leaves are edible, contain valuable vitamins and minerals, and have a crisp, salty taste. Medicinally this plant has been used to treat scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency and is sold in Asia as a vegetable. In the Caribbean, the leaves are pulverized and used to soothe puncture wounds caused by venomous fish.

The American Alligator inhabits wetlands that frequently overlap with human-populated areas. They reach adulthood at about 10 years of age, at which time they are about 7 feet long. The oldest males may grow to be 16 feet and weigh up to 1,200 pounds during a lifespan of 30 or more years.

Adult alligators will eat wild boars, deer, dogs of all sizes, and livestock including cattle and sheep. The gizzards of alligators often contain gastroliths. The function of these stones is to grind up food in the stomach and help with digestion. This is important because alligators swallow their food whole. These gastroliths are also used in buoyancy control.

Alligators generally have a green, brown, or nearly black color with a creamy white underside. Algae-laden waters produce greener skin, while tannic acid from overhanging trees can often produce darker skin.

Although alligators have no vocal cords, males bellow loudly to attract mates by sucking air into their lungs and blowing it out in intermittent, deep-toned roars. Male alligators engage in infrasound bellowing with their midsection very slightly submerged, making the surface of the water sprinkle. Recently it was discovered that on spring nights alligators gather in large numbers for group courtship, known as “alligator dances”.

The Red Mangrove is distributed in costal ecosystems throughout the tropics. It forms a characteristic saline woodland habitat called a mangrove swamp, growing on aerial prop roots which arch above the water level giving stands of this tree a characteristic appearance.

Because they are well adapted to salt water, they thrive where many other plants fail and create their own ecosystems called mangals. The roots act as an ultra-filtration mechanism to exclude up to 97% of the salts from the costal saline water. Salt which does accumulate in the plant concentrates in old leaves which the plant then sheds.

Red mangroves absorb air through pneumatophores, specialised root-like structures which stick up out of the soil like straws for oxygen intake. These “breathing tubes” typically reach heights of up to thirty centimeters, and in other species, over three meters.

Mangroves protect coastal areas from erosion and storm surge during hurricanes. The mangrove’s massive root system is efficient at dissipating wave energy. They slow down tidal water enough that sediment is deposited as the tide comes in, leaving all except fine particles when the tide ebbs. Because of the uniqueness of mangrove ecosystems and the protection against erosion that they provide, they are often the object of conservation programs.

Saw Palmetto is a small palm tree, normally reaching a height of around 3–6 feet. Its trunk is sprawling, and it grows in clumps or dense thickets in sandy coastal lands or as undergrowth in pine woods or hardwood hammocks.

The light green leaves of the palm have a bare stem terminating in a rounded fan of about 20 leaflets. The upper stem is armed with sharp teeth or spines that give the species its common name. The spines are easily capable of breaking the skin, and protection should be worn when working around a Saw Palmetto.

The fruits of the Saw Palmetto are highly enriched with fatty acids and phytosterols, and extracts of the fruits have been the subject of intensive research for the treatment of urinary tract infections. This extract is also commonly used for other medical conditions.

Aboriginal Americans used the fruit for food and in the treatment of a variety of urinary and reproductive system problems. The Mayans drank it as a tonic, and the Seminoles used the berries as an expectorant and antiseptic. The extract has been suggested as a potential treatment for male pattern baldness.

The Florida stone crab is a crab found in the western North Atlantic, from Connecticut to Belize, including Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba and the Bahamas. It is widely caught as a source of food.

It is brownish red with gray spots and a tan underside, and has large unequally-sized claws with black tips. The claws are hinged, very dark, and banded with red and yellow. It measures about 6.5 inches in length.

They make burrows in mud or sand below the low tide line, lying in wait for prey, prefering to feed on oysters and other small mollusks, polychaete worms, and other crustaceans. They will also occasionally eat seagrass.

The Florida stone crab is usually fished near jetties, oyster reefs or other rocky areas. The bodies are relatively small and are rarely eaten, but the claws are considered a delicacy.

The popularity of the Florida stone crab has grown again in recent years and is considered to be one of the best varieties to eat, as well as one of the more expensive.

Tragacanth is a natural gum obtained from the dried sap of several species of legumes of the genus Astragalus. Some of these species’ common names include Milk Vetch or Goat’s Thorn. The gum is sometimes called Shiraz Gum or Gum Dragon.

The sap is an odorless, tasteless, water-soluble mixture of polysaccharides obtained by draining from the root of the plant. It seeps from the plant in twisted ribbons or flakes which can be powdered. It absorbs water to become a gel, which can be stirred into a paste.

It is used in incense as a binder to hold powdered herbs together. It is also the traditional binder used in the making of artist’s pastels, as it does not adhere to itself the same way gum arabic does when dry. In addition, it is used to make a paste used in patisseries to create life-like flowers as decorations for cakes.

Tragacanth contains an alkaloid that has historically been used as an herbal remedy for such conditions as cough and diarrhea. As a mucilage or paste it has been used as a topical treatment for burns, as a cast to prohibit mobility for healing bones, and is used in pharmaceuticals and foods as an emulsifier, thickener, stabilizer, and texturant additive.

Gum tragacanth is less common in products than other gums, such as gum arabic or guar gum, largely because most Tragacanth is grown in Middle Eastern countries which have shaky trade relations. Commercial cultivation of tragacanth plants has generally not proved economically worthwhile in the west.

Ludwigia arcuata, or Long-Stalked Seedbox, is a species native to the southeastern United States, where it grows creeping or submersed in swampy environments and along the edges of rivers and ponds.

It is a reddish stemmed plant that has a strong tendency to branch. Easily grown emersed in damp soils, it produces a stunning flower. The beautiful yellow flowers have four comparatively large petals and are a distinguishing characteristic of the species

Though it is one of the most delicate Ludwigia species, Ludwigia arcuata is somewhat of a mainstay among aquatic plant hobbyists. It is normally available as “Needle Leaf Ludwigia” and can be procured through most internet aquatic plant retailers.

The pollen grains are loosely held together by viscin threads, meaning that only bees that are morphologically specialized to gather this pollen can effectively pollinate the flowers. It is easily propagated from the seeds as well as from cuttings.

Pigeon plum, sometimes called doveplum and pigeon seagrape, is one of the larger seacoast trees found in central and southern Florida, the Keys, and the Northern Caribbean. It is tolerant of salt spray and often grows well in sandy, rocky, or broken coral soils near tidewater areas. Pigeon plum is recommended as a good hurricane resistant species for barrier plantings.

It is a medium sized, evergreen tree that can reach heights of 80 feet but more commonly averages from 30 to 40 feet. It has dense, spreading branches and a round-topped crown. The fruit is a thin walled, light brown seed encased in a tubular, dark red, berry-like pulp.

The fruit is eaten by numerous wildlife species, especially doves and pigeons, hence its common names. The white-crowned pigeon is a frequent visitor. Other wildlife that is known to eat the fleshy fruits and seeds include raccoons, small rodents, mockingbirds, catbirds, robins, and woodpeckers.

The heavy, dark, reddish-brown wood has limited use in furniture manufacture and cabinetry. The wood is hard and strong but can be brittle, so its commercial value is limited. Being a well-behaved tree, it is commonly used in parking lots, where its shade provides relief from the reflected heat of the asphalt.