TAXA TUESDAY 🌿
w/ the Florida Native Plant Society

Mangrove Migration!

Black Mangrove
Avicennia germinans
Family: Acanthaceae

This evergreen shrub is native to coastal South and Central Florida, where it forms dense colonies along the shoreline. These populations perform many critical functions for our ecosystems: stabilizing the shorelines to prevent erosion, absorbing the force of strong storm surge waves, sequestering carbon, and providing food and shelter for wildlife.

This species has historically appeared on North Florida coasts, but those few individuals were never able to establish solid populations due to the hard freezes that were once typical at that latitude. Now, large populations are establishing themselves along the Florida Panhandle. This migration results from the warmer winters we are experiencing due to the continued increase in atmospheric carbon (caused by the burning of fossil fuels).

Florida has several similar-looking coastal species commonly called “mangroves,” but they are not closely related. White Mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa) and Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) are similar in appearance and occur in colonies along our shorelines, but they are in three separate families. All three are now migrating north and have been documented in the panhandle.

Although unrelated, both Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans) and Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) have evolved similar reproductive processes.

Both species are viviparous, meaning their seed germinates while still attached to the plant. In the case of Avicennia, Black Mangrove, the sprouted seed remains hidden inside the fruit wall, which is called crypto vivipary. “Crypto” means hidden or covered, and “viviparous” means live birth.

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Thanks for tuning in! 👋🏻

Photos & description by Lilly Anderson-Messec, FNPS Director of North Florida Programs

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