MANGROVE. The remarkable "mangrove forests" which fringe tidal estuaries, overrun salt marshes, and line muddy coasts in th6 tropics of both Old and New Worlds, are composed of trees and shrubs belonging to the Rhizophoracew, a small order of calycifloral exogens, mixed, however, with the "white mangrove," Avieennia, a verbenaceous plant. Their trunks and branches constantly emit adventitious roots, which, descending in arched fashion, strike at some distance from the parent stem, and send up new trunks, the forest thus spreading like a banyan grove. The roots and stems afford lodgment and shelter to innumerable bivalves, crabs, and other marine animals, while the branches are inhabited by aquatic birds. A further advantage in dispersal, very characteristic of the order, is afforded by the seeds, which have a striking peculiarity of germination. While the fruit is still attached to the parent branch, the long radicle emerges from the seed and descends rapidly towards the mud, where it may even establish itself before falling off. Owing to its clubbed shape, this is always in the right position, the plumule then making its appearance. The wood of some species is hard and durable, and the astringent bark is employed in tanning. The fruit of the common mangrove, R-hizophora Mangle, L., is sweet and wholesome, and yields a light wine. See Treasury of Botany, and Lindley's Vegetable Kingdom.