Black Mangrove

From everything I've read, this is the only mangrove species that grows in Louisiana. Based on my observations today, there must be unto...Read Moreld millions of these plants growing on Grand Idle, LA (which is only 6 square miles in area), and in its surrounding towns. And their numbers seem to have increased since I was last down here in 2010, which is a great sign. I say that because the Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened in April 2010. Seeing them in bloom today was quite a soul-stirring sight. I couldn't detect any fragrance from the blooms. I expected the branches to be rigid, but they are actually quite bendable and dare I say rubbery, which surely helps them avoid wind damage in this hurricane-prone area of the world. This mangrove doesn't seem to grow on the main beach that faces south towards the Gulf Of Mexico, but rather on the other side of the island (that faces Louisiana). Probably because the north side is sheltered from the brutal waves that lash upwards from the Gulf. This plant's "dead man's fingers" (pneumatophores) are quite odd-looking, and I initially mistook them for dead mangrove trunks or dead reeds. If you haven't guessed by now, my main reason to go down to Grand Isle is to see and touch this awesome plant.

Black Mangrove Avicennia germinans is native to Texas and other States.

This species is the most cold-tolerant of the three mangrove species found on Florida's coasts and can grow as far north as Flagler Count...Read Morey (just south of Jacksonville Beach) on the east coast of Florida and occasionally as far north as Pensacola on Florida's gulf coast. However, the species is rarely found that far north and is much more common in it's main distribution in Florida, from Cedar Keys and St. Augustine southward through the Keys. This species is slightly less salt-tolerant than the Red Mangrove or Rhizophora mangle (see my comment on it) and usually grows farther inland than it, but not as far inland as the White Mangrove and Buttonwood. This species differs from the Red Mangrove by lacking the other specie's familiar prop roots and by having smaller leaves than R. mangle. Instead, the species propagates and "breathes" air by using breathing roots or dead man's fingers, sticking up out of the wet, salty or brackish soil in dense clusters surrounding the Black Mangrove trees. Like the Red Mangrove, a great native tree for wildlife and for along coasts and for storm protection!

These are the hardiest genus of mangroves. In the late 60's someone planted its relative Avicennia Marina in Mission Bay San Diego, and i...Read Moret began to take over. It owuld be an excellent pond plant though since mangroves are adapted to fresh and salt water, although their natural way of distribution usually only allows them to be in saltwater. I will try some of these in San Francisco as well. They naturally occur all the way up to Louisiana.