496 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1962 



canopy. Exploring these islands on foot is a memorable experience — 

 though few visitors leave their boats. The dark interior is a seeming- 

 ly impenetrable maze of slimy roots growmg from the mud and often 

 armed with razor-sharp oysters. The air is humid and still, and the 

 odor of peat and muck is strong. Even in the dry season, at low tide 

 one may sink past his knees in the soft soil. 



Sometimes there is dead silence in the swamps; other times there 

 may be the constant whine of insects, the clicking of the shells of 

 bivalves, the rustle of scurrying crabs, and perhaps the haunting- 

 cry of a limpkin. Pools of water are often rust-red, caused by tannic 

 acid produced by the red mangroves. This tannic acid is believed to 

 prevent teredos from mfesting the submerged roots. 



EVEN BEES LIKE MANGROVES 



The larger trees will usually be found away from the shore. And 

 here the black mangroves are often seen. The black mangroves have 

 no prop roots, but the roots often form strong buttresses at the base of 

 the trunk, and then, extending for long distances under the soil, 

 they send up myriad pneumatophores — breatliing roots — that project 

 from the soil like pencils. The flowers of the black mangrove are rich 

 in nectar, and bee keepers often place their hives in the swamps to 

 obtain the highly prized mangrove honey. The smaller white man- 

 groves, which also sometimes have pneumatophores, are seen in many 

 Florida swamps, along with twisted, gnarled buttonwoods. 



In many parts of the world, the timber of mangroves is economically 

 important. The thick bark of the red mangrove is widely used in 

 taiming leather ; and in Jamaica the government has found it neces- 

 sary to restrict the stripping of bark. A Trinidad botanist has esti- 

 mated that a single red mangrove with a girth of eight feet (which 

 is a giant of the species) will yield 1,000 poimds of bark. The heart- 

 wood of all three American mangroves is used in furniture work. 



Perhaps the greatest importance of mangroves in Florida is their 

 value in stabilizing and preserving shorelines. Many sections of 

 shore might be washed away in severe storms without the protection 

 of these unique trees. Studies might show that many shorelines now 

 sufferings erosion could be stabilized by plantings of mangroves. 



