Rhizophora mangle |
Rhizophora |
|
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American mangrove, red mangrove |
mangrove |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, 6–7[–25] m. Prop roots numerous, arching, 2–4.5 m. Leaves: stipules lanceolate, leaving ring-shaped scar; petioles 1.5–2 cm; blade elliptic, 6–12 × 2.2–6 cm, thick, leathery, base rounded-cuneate, apex acute to obtuse, midvein extended into caducous point, abaxial surface pale green, black punctate, adaxial surface dark green, shiny; midvein conspicuous, higher order veins obscure. | Shrubs or trees, with aerial prop roots and swollen stem nodes. |
Leaves | stipules sheathing terminal bud, caducous; blade surfaces glabrous. |
|
Inflorescences | mostly 2–4-flowered, 4–7 cm. |
dense, dichotomously branched cymes; bracteoles forming cup just below flower. |
Flowers | 2 cm diam.; hypanthium campanulate-funnelform, 5 mm; sepals widely spreading, pale yellow, lanceolate or narrowly triangular, 12 mm, leathery; petals recurved, creamy white, turning brown in age, narrowly lanceolate to linear, 6–10 × 1.5–2 mm, adaxially wooly, soon deciduous; anthers sessile; ovary conic; style slender; stigma receptive after stamens and petals fall. |
sepals persistent in fruit; filaments absent [much shorter than anthers]; ovary apically partly surrounded by nectary, free part elongating after anthesis. |
Berries | persistent on tree until after seed germination, rusty or dark brown, 3 cm; sepals spreading to reflexed. |
brown, ovoid-conic [ovoid or pyriform], leathery. |
Seed(s) | with hypocotyl becoming elongate, cylindric, to 12–25 × 1.2 cm, apex sharply pointed. |
germination viviparous; hypocotyl protruding and elongating before seedling falls from fruit. |
2n | = 36. |
|
Rhizophora mangle |
Rhizophora |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring; fruiting late summer–fall. | |
Habitat | Shallow, brackish to saline water in sand, silt, mud, or clay of coastal and estuarine sand flats and swamps. | |
Distribution |
FL; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Africa; Pacific Islands
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Seacoasts nearly throughout tropics and subtropics |
Discussion | Rhizophora mangle is native to the Americas and west Africa; it was introduced to Hawaii early in the 20th century for erosion control and has become invasive there. The species is particularly susceptible to freezing temperatures, which limit the northern (and southern) extent of its range. In Florida, it is found on the immediate Atlantic and Gulf seacoasts north to Saint Johns County at almost 30° north latitude (W. B. Zomlefer et al. 2006). K. C. Cavanaugh et al. (2014) determined that its abundance has increased significantly at the northern edge of the range, likely due to a decline in the frequency of severe cold events. Rhizophora mangle has recently become established along the Texas coast, presumably also as a result of a warming climate (P. A. Montagna et al. 2011). Seedling propagules may float in the ocean and remain viable for up to a year before reaching a suitable substrate where they resume growth. Propagules occasionally wash ashore and become temporarily established north of its range (to North Carolina), but plants do not currently survive long-term (A. S. Weakley 2012). Records from the Florida panhandle are also assumed to be temporarily established plants (B. Hansen, pers. comm.). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Species 8 or 9 (1 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 155. | FNA vol. 12, p. 155. |
Parent taxa | Rhizophoraceae > Rhizophora | Rhizophoraceae |
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. americana | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 443. (1753) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 443. (1753): Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 202. (1754) |
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