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Plants

Red Mangrove

   Rhizophora mangle, the Red Mangrove, is a tropical evergreen shrub or small tree growing in shallow bays and inlets. It is found on the south Florida coast in the US. The first photo is a very young red mangrove about six months after the seed was harvested by us in the Florida keys in March 2001. The plant was grown in a pot and watered daily. Despite growing naturally standing in saltwater, we have found they grow well in freshwater and in pots as long as they are watered frequently.  The second photo shows the foliage of one of our trees (possibly the same one pictured in the top photo) in 2005. This plant is growing in our plant filter with submersed roots. The snake in the photo is one of our resident, native water snakes, a male. We have a resident population of them (along with two other snake species and two species of lizards) in our greenhouse. The snakes generally feed upon escapee fish in the plant filter and floor gutters. The lizards feed on insects. The photo shows the bright green heavy, fleshy mature leaves as well as the lighter green new leaves. These leaves are very costly for the tree to produce and are the reason these trees are very effective at waste removal; toxic waste for the fish represents food for the plants. The third photo is the same tree's roots (again one of our resident water snakes, a female, is also pictured). The photo shows the prop roots that mangroves grow from lateral stems into the water. By means of such roots, which in turn grow stems, mangroves expand and stabilize coastal shorelines.

Description: Red Mangrove grows emersed at the water's edge in estuaries in the tropics, including the southern tip of Florida. The plant's roots grow into the wet soil along the bank or the pond's bottom or as free growing thick clumps in the water column. It has light green leaves growing on thick stems. The plant reproduces asexually by means of cuttings (most stems will already have roots at each node) and sexually by means of seeds. The seeds are retained connected to the mother plant until it has sprouted a foot long root (weighted so that it floats root tip down when it falls from the mother plant) and two fleshy leaves. The young plant (called a propagule) floats away until it encounters a shallow spot where it quickly drops roots and begins growing. As the plant grows, prop roots emerge from the stems and grow into the water to more tightly anchor the tree. From the prop roots stems grow upward and the process continues until a single tree can cover an acre of more of area. Detritus and mud and sand collect around the roots and eventually dry land forms. The tree continues to encircle the dry land it created.

Environment

Geographic Range: Worldwide on marine coasts in the tropics. Its range is being reduced as humans destroy coastal marshes for development and agricultural purposes. Especially, threatening to the mangrove is the placement of tropical shrimp farms in its range. This practice is not sustainable, since the removal of mangroves increases coastal erosion and leads to the loss of the land on which the shrimp farms are located.

Care: This plant requires bright light and rich water. Given these it grows rapidly for a tree. Otherwise, no special care is required.

Additional Photos: None at present.

Page last modified December 24, 2007.
Copyright © 2007, Goliad Farms, LP