Plant Guide > Trees > Mangroves

Mangroves

MangrovesThe true mangrove family, Rhizophoraceae, of fifteen genera, is chiefly confined to the tropical regions of the Old World. One genus with a single species reaches the extreme end of Florida. Two other species of the genus Rhizophora are found in tide pools and marshes of Asiatic and African equatorial waters.

The remarkable habit of throwing out aerial roots from trunks and limbs, and of germinating its seeds before they fall enable the mangrove to extend its range on all sides, encroaching upon the surrounding water slowly but surely.

The secondary roots fasten themselves in the soil, and the young plantlets, as they fall, strike root at varying distances from the parent tree.

The flotsam and jetsam brought in and out by tides lodge among the network of roots and stems, and thus new soil is formed.










Black Mangrove Tree
Red Mangrove Tree
White Mangrove or Buttonwood Tree