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Avicennia germinans, the black mangrove, [3] is a shrub or small tree growing up to 12 meters (39 feet) in the acanthus family, Acanthaceae.It grows in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, on both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, and on the Atlantic Coast of tropical Africa, where it thrives on the sandy and muddy shores where seawater reaches.
Lumnitzera racemosa, commonly known as the white-flowered black mangrove, [4] is a species of mangrove in the family Combretaceae. [5] It is found on the eastern coast of Africa and other places in the western Indo-Pacific region. [6] It has one accepted variety from the noniminate species which is Lumnitzera racemosa var. lutea (Gaudich ...
The black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) lives on higher ground and develops many specialized root-like structures called pneumatophores, which stick up out of the soil like straws for breathing. [22] [23] These "breathing tubes" typically reach heights of up to 30 cm (12 in), and in some species, over 3 m (9.8 ft).
The seed is shaped and sized similar to a lima bean when germinated. Younger black mangrove trees are shade intolerant but become more shade tolerant as they mature. [1] Laguncularia racemosa — white mangrove; White mangrove trees grow to 45 feet in height and up and tend to have a more erect form than the other species.
Grey mangroves grow as a shrub or tree to a height of 3 to 10 m (10 to 33 ft), or up to 14 metres (46 ft) in tropical regions. The habit is a gnarled arrangement of multiple branches. It has smooth light-grey bark made up of thin, stiff, brittle flakes. This may be whitish, a characteristic described in the common name.
The trunk has smooth, greenish-black bark that is finely fissured and does not flake. The dark green leaves, 15 cm (6 in) long and 5 cm (2 in) wide, have a silvery grey underside and grow in opposite pairs. The small, orange-yellow flowers, borne in a racemose inflorescence, have four petals and a diameter of about 4 mm (0.16 in) when expanded.
There are five main species of mangrove trees in the ecoregion: red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), Rhizophora racemosa, and Rhizophora harrisonii, black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) and white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa), while the palm Nypa fruticans has been introduced from Asia.
In Puerto Rico, the red, white, and black mangroves occupy different ecological niches and have slightly different chemical compositions, so the carbon content varies between the species, as well between the different tissues of the plant (e.g., leaf matter versus roots). [35]