Laguncularia racemosa

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Laguncularia racemosa
Laguncularia racemosa, at Caeté estuary, Bragança, Pará, Brazil
Conservation status
Secure
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Myrtales Family: Combretaceae Genus: Laguncularia Species: L. racemosa
Binomial name
Laguncularia racemosa (L.) C.F. Gaertn.

Laguncularia racemosa (white mangrove; syn. Conocarpus racemosa) is a flowering plant in the family Combretaceae, native to the coasts of western Africa from Senegal to Cameroon, the Atlantic coast of the Americas from Bermuda, Florida, the Bahamas, Mexico, the Caribbean and south to Brazil; and on the Pacific coast of the Americas from Mexico to northwestern Peru, including the Galapagos Islands.

It is a mangrove tree, growing to 12-18 m tall. The bark is gray-brown or reddish, and rough and fissured. Pneumatophores and/or prop roots may be present, depending on environmental conditions. The leaves are opposite, elliptical, 4–10 cm long and 2.5–5 cm broad, rounded at both ends, entire, smooth, leathery in texture, slightly fleshy, without visible veins, and yellow-green in color. The petiole is stout, reddish, 10–13 mm long, with two small glands near the blade that exude salt. The white, bell-shaped flowers are mostly bisexual and about 5 mm long. The fruit is a reddish-brown drupe, about 12–20 mm long, with longitudinal ridges. The single seed is sometimes viviparous.

It grows in coastal areas of bays, lagoons, and tidal creeks, typically growing inland of other mangroves, well above the high tide line.

[edit] External links

• San Diego Natural History Museum: Laguncularia recemosa
• Smithsonian Marine Station: Laguncularia recemosa
• Purdue University: Laguncularia recemosa