Red Mangrove (SPC Florida Plants )

Red Mangrove

Rhizophora mangle

Summary ⁴

The red mangrove is an evergreen tree distributed in estuarine ecosystems throughout the tropics, and native to Florida. Growing along the edge of the shoreline where conditions are harshest, the red mangrove is easily distinguished from other species by tangled, reddish prop roots. These prop roots originate from the trunk with roots growing downward from the branches. Extending three feet or more above the surface of the soil, prop roots increase stability of the tree, and they also have pores (called lenticels) which supply oxygen to the buried roots. Red mangroves, unlike the black and white mangrove species, are salt excluders and obtain fresh water from the salt water by blocking the absorption of salt at the roots. Any salt that does get into the system of these trees is sent to sacrificial leaves. When these leaves are full of salt, they are dropped from the tree, eliminating the salt from the tree’s system. In Florida, red mangroves typically average 20 ft. in height, and their trunks and limbs are covered with gray bark, over a dark red wood from which the common name originates. The smooth-edged, elliptical 4-8 in. leaves have shiny, dark green uppersides and pale green undersides and occur opposite from each other along the branches. Red mangroves have leaves which are somewhat larger and shinier than those of other mangroves. Due to the red mangrove’s location along the water’s edge, the species undergoes a special form of reproduction known as vivipary. Clusters of white to pale yellow flowers bloom during the spring and early summer months, and after pollination, a yellow fruit and propagule is formed. This propagule is an embryo that averages 6 in. long and pencil-shaped, that germinates and develops while still attached to the tree (vivipary). Once it’s mature and breaks away from the tree, the propagule floats in the water for up to a year where it is eventually washed ashore, develops roots, and establishes itself as a mangrove plant. Red mangrove is one of the most valuable trees for creating and preserving shorelines in south Florida and the Caribbean Basin. Sediments depositing among their adventitious prop roots can eventually build up to create land.

Sources and Credits

More Info

Range Map

iNat Map

Leaf arrangement	Opposite
Ecosystem	Coastal swamps
Leaf shape	Elliptic
Leaf type	Simple
Flowers	White

‹ › ×