Identifying Characteristics
| Size/Form: | Black mangrove is a small to medium-sized tree that reaches heights of 50'. It is small and shrub-like toward the north end of its range. |
| Leaves: | The leaves are simple, oppositely arranged, persistent, and 2" to 4" long by ¾" to 1 ½" wide. The oblong shaped leaves usually have shiny upper surfaces coated with salt crystals while the underneath surface is hairy. The leaf base is wedged and the leaf tip is rounded. The leaf margin is smooth and sometimes slightly rolled down along the side edges. |
| Fruit: | The egg-shaped capsule is green and 1 ½" long by 1" wide, has splits along two edges, and contains one seed. |
| Bark: | The dark-brown bark has long, vertical furrows between flat, scaly, squarish blocks. The bark sloughs off to reveal an orange-red inner bark. |
| Habitat: | Black mangrove grows in the wet soils of coastal high-tide shores of Florida in the mangrove ecosystem. |