The word "mangrove" is Native American and means "trees that walk on the water." The red mangrove is typically found along the coastline of bays and estuaries. The red mangrove's "prop roots," which make the mangrove look like a bunch of trees clumped together, protect the sand on the estuary shores from erosion and provide a home to young fish such as snook and tarpon. The red mangrove has small yellow flowers and gray bark, which covers dark red wood. It produces seeds that look like miniature cigars. When these seeds fall, they can either lodge themselves near the parent tree or land in the water and float to another location. The dark-green, waxy leaves of the red mangrove are very important to the estuary's food chain. Within two days of falling into the water that surrounds the tree, the leaves are eaten by many of the animals that dwell in the water.
The word "mangrove" is Native American and means "trees that walk on the water." The red mangrove is typically found along the coastline of bays and estuaries. The red mangrove's "prop roots," which make the mangrove look like a bunch of trees clumped together, protect the sand on the estuary shores from erosion and provide a home to young fish such as snook and tarpon. The red mangrove has small yellow flowers and gray bark, which covers dark red wood. It produces seeds that look like miniature cigars. When these seeds fall, they can either lodge themselves near the parent tree or land in the water and float to another location. The dark-green, waxy leaves of the red mangrove are very important to the estuary's food chain. Within two days of falling into the water that surrounds the tree, the leaves are eaten by many of the animals that dwell in the water.
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