Mangroves of Deerfield Island

Mangroves on Deerfield Island Park

Deerfield Island Park is host to 3 different species of mangroves.

Mangroves are one of Florida's true natives. They thrive in salty environments because they are able to obtain freshwater from saltwater. ... The relationship between mangroves and their associated marine life cannot be overemphasized. Mangroves provide protected nursery areas for fishes, crustaceans, and shellfish. They also protect shorelines from damaging storm and hurricane winds, waves, and floods. Mangroves also help prevent erosion by stabilizing sediments with their tangled root systems. They maintain water quality and clarity, filtering pollutants and trapping sediments originating from land.

In Florida, mangroves are protected by the legislature. Trimming and removal are highly regulated.

The most common is the Red Mangrove (sometimes called the “walking tree). This tree is easily identified by its tangled, reddish roots, called “prop roots.” Because the tree seems to be walking on water, or standing on the surface when the roots are exposed, it has been dubbed the “Walking Tree.” Its cigar-shaped" seeds," in actuality called propagules, become fully mature plants before dropping off the parent tree. These are dispersed by water until eventually embedding in the shallows.

The Black Mangrove looks more like a tree than the spidery Red Mangrove. The Black Mangrove has silvery green leaves and a dark trunk and can grow to 30-40 ft (9-12m) tall. Leaves occur opposite of each other along the branches, with upper sides that are shiny and undersides densely covered with hairs. The bark of this mangrove is dark and scaly. Black mangroves blossom in spring and early summer, producing white flowers. Reproductive adaptations enable seedlings to germinate while still attached to the parent tree. Seeds sprout into 1 inch (2-3 cm), lima bean-shaped propagules. Seed germination occurs while still attached to the parent tree, increasing the chances of survival in this adverse environment. Very often, you can spot pneumatophores, root extensions that seem to grow out of the sand around the bases of black mangroves.

Occupying higher land than the red and black mangroves, is the White Mangrove. However, when it is found in oxygen-depleted sediments or flooded for extended periods of time, it often develops peg roots.

White mangroves are the least cold-tolerant of the three mangrove species found in Florida. This small tree or shrub grows rapidly in rich soils to heights of 50 feet (15 m). The light yellow-green leaves are broad and flat with two glands located at the base of the leaf where the stem originates. These glands are sugar glands called nectaries. White mangroves produce greenish-white flowers in spikes, blooming from spring to early summer.