TRE MANGROVE 



373 



Fig. 394. 

 The descending root. 



These long, lithe descending roots 

 (Fig. 394), swaying in the wind, 

 are characteristic features of the 

 mangrove swamp. Usually the hang- 

 ing roots are unbranched, but now 

 and then the tip 

 breaks up into 

 short forks (Fig. 

 395) before it 

 reaches the 

 water. 



469. These 

 long roots re- 

 main attached 

 at the upper ^^^^^^ 



end, and become ^^^^^ ^„„^ ^^ mangrove, 

 trunks. The 



mangrove plantation, therefore, be- 

 comes an interwoven mass, and thus 

 marches on into the tidal rivers 

 and the ocean, catching the flotsam 

 and jetsam of the sea; and there- 

 by it builds land and extends the 

 shores. In the quiet recesses of 

 the mangrove swamp aquatic and 

 amphibious life finds refuge. The 

 shell -fish cling to the trunks and 

 at low tide they are exposed, thus 



