What plant builds islands?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
October 10, 2002
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The red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle Linnaeus) is native to the warm coastlines of the Americas and tropical West Africa. The trees are found within 28 degrees north and south of the equator limited by winter temperatures. Red mangroves add land to the edges of the continents and serve as nurseries for marine life.
Red mangroves are the trees found closest to water's edge. They are easily identified by their arching prop roots.
The prop roots serve both mechanical and chemical functions. These roots support the tree against wind and currents. The fine roots growing from the prop roots take up water and nutrients. Above the waterline the prop roots have lenticels (areas of spongy tissue) which supply oxygen to the submerged portions.
Red mangroves tolerate saline water by excluding the sodium and chloride ions while allowing water and nutrients to enter. Although these mangroves can grow in water ranging from 0 to 90 parts per thousand salt, the UCLA Botanical Garden (Members Newsletter Vol.1 No. 1) reported the trees appeared to grow faster in salt water than in fresh.
Red mangrove flowers are wind-pollinated. Each flower produces an oval single-seeded fruit. The seed germinates growing a stout green radicle (seed root) while still attached to the parent. This seedling is a propagule ready to grow immediately when it contacts a substrate.
If the tide is out when the propagule drops, it plants itself firmly next to its parent. But the propagule is designed to float vertically in the currents. Drifting seedlings must anchor promptly to sandbars before currents carry them far from land or into cold waters. Their tangle of prop roots stabilizes the sandbars forming islands.
The Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida has seven great photographs of the red mangrove including the prop roots, flowers, and propagules. To view the photographs, click on the link:
http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/images.asp?plantID=3926#
Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images.
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans) Plant of the Week - March 14, 2005
A tale of fireflies, monkeys, mangroves, bananas, and bats Renfield's Garden - November 28, 2001
Why do female blue crabs migrate? Renfield's Garden - October 2, 2002
What was William's mission? Plants that Changed History - August 12, 2003
How did Portugal gain control of the spice trade? Plants that Changed History -December 2, 2003
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Wollemi Pine
National Geographic®
Exclusively from National Geographic, this survivor from the age of the dinosaurs is one of the greatest living fossils discovered in the 20th century. The Wollemi pine is one of the world's oldest and rarest tree species, belonging to a 200-million-year-old plant family thought to have been extinct for more than two million years. Previously known only from fossil records, it was presumed extinct until a single tree was found in the Wollemi National Park, Australia, in 1994. Subsequent research discovered 100 adult trees that have survived in a single canyon in this wild and rugged area.
Click here to view canyon, trees and fossil record.
You can assist in the conservation effort and enjoy the unique opportunity to ensure the continued survival of this rare species by giving the tree as a gift or growing your own. Suitable for indoor container gardening or as a landscape tree in certain areas of the U.S. Comes with a care manual with the full story about the discovery and fascinating history of the Wollemi pine. Comes in a copper-colored container and will be approximately 10''H when shipped. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these plants will fund ongoing conservation research.
Click here to get your Wollemi Pine and assist in the conservation effort.
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