MANGROVE ACTION GROUP
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      • Are all the white birds you see on the berm the same? 2024
      • What Are Those Birds Soaring Overhead? 2023
      • String Beans on the Beach? 2023
      • All About Saw Palmetto 2023
      • Is There Such A Thing As A Tourist Tree? 2023
      • Wood Storks Do Not Deliver Babies! 2023
      • Butterflies and Pelican Bay Butterfly Garden 2020
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​  String Beans on the BEACH?

String Beans on the Beach?
 
By Sid Freund
Florida Master Naturalist

 
As you walk along the beach shoreline you may notice what appear to be string beans. Actually, they are “mature” Red Mangrove plants called propagules. Red Mangroves have flowers that are small, yellow and bell shaped. Their pleasant smell attracts bees and other insects to pollinate them. The pollinated flower develops into a seed. Once the seed in the fruit germinates on the tree, the propagule starts growing and remains on the tree until it is ready to take root and drops. What drops from the tree is a viable new plant not a seed. This is one of the distinguishing characteristics of Mangroves. The technical term is viviparous. The propagule grows its first roots while still attached to the parent tree. A mature plant can float for up to a year and still be viable. When a plant becomes waterlogged it sinks and its roots may anchor to a sandbar, oyster bed or to another tree’s roots. Red mangroves grow at sea level right along the shore. Tangles of prop roots along the coast trap sediment that moves with the tide and gradually builds up soil around the plants. Red mangroves, together with the other two U.S. mangrove species—black mangroves and white mangroves, form islands and vast coastal forests. Mangroves provide a buffer against storm surge, support marine life and absorb significant amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. Mangroves are protected in Collier County.
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                        Mangrove Action Group (MAG) is dedicated to conserving the Clam Pass/Clam Bay Natural Resource Protection Area (NRPA) and its natural environs, to protecting its mangroves, its wetlands and the flow and quality of its water, believing that its unspoiled character makes a critical contribution to the environment, to the flora and fauna that share it, and to the quality of life for everyone.
  • Home
    • History and Mission >
      • MAG Advocacy
    • Become a MAG Member >
      • MAG Membership Application
    • Board of Directors
    • Contact MAG
  • MEETINGS & MINUTES
    • Meetings In The Season
    • Meeting Minutes
    • Previous Presentations
    • Collier County Storm Risk Management Study (CSRM) >
      • CSRM Monthly Status Meetings
      • Speak Up, Advocate
  • MAG Projects
    • Bird Nesting Boxes
    • Children's Story Tell & Nature Walks
  • Nature Walks
    • PB Guided Nature Walks
    • PB Shorebird Talks
    • Flora and Fauna >
      • Are all the white birds you see on the berm the same? 2024
      • What Are Those Birds Soaring Overhead? 2023
      • String Beans on the Beach? 2023
      • All About Saw Palmetto 2023
      • Is There Such A Thing As A Tourist Tree? 2023
      • Wood Storks Do Not Deliver Babies! 2023
      • Butterflies and Pelican Bay Butterfly Garden 2020
    • Nature Walk Encounters >
      • Guided Nature Walk Excerpts
    • A Naturalist's View of PB Berm & Boardwalk
    • The Inhabitants >
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Invertebrates
      • Mammals
      • Plants & Grasses
      • Reptiles
      • Trees
  • MANGROVES AND THE ESTUARY
    • Mangrove Articles
    • Why Are Mangroves Important?
    • Pelican Bay Mangroves