PlantFiles: White Mangrove, White Buttonwood
Laguncularia racemosa

White Mangrove or White Buttonwood (Laguncularia racemosa) is native to the tidal marshes/swamps, lagoons, islets, brackish estuaries, mangrove swamps, barrier islands, and brackish, salty shorelines from zone 9a of coastal central Florida south through the rest of the state, the Keys, through zone 11 and south into the Caribbean. It grows generally as a shrub to small tree and in good conditions up to a medium and sometimes large-sized tree. It has "breathing roots" like the Black Mangrove, although they are not always as prominent as in the latter species. It is a superb tree for stabalizing tropical and subtropical shorelines and for providing habitat for wildlife like all mangrove species, including the 3 spp. of mangroves found in Florida: this species, the Black Mangrove, and Red Mangrove. The closely related Buttonwood, also found in Florida in the same areas as mangroves as well as inland in many areas, is actually not a true mangrove. The White Mangrove is similar to the Black Mangrove in many ways and can be difficult to distinguish the two species. However, the White Mangrove generally has rounder leaves, although in many areas of Florida both species have similar rounded leaves. Black Mangroves generally have smaller, more pointed leaves than the White Mangrove. If these features don't distinguish the two, the lighter bark of the White Mangrove and darker bark of the Black Mangrove can distinguish the two species.

MORE FACTS - In Florida and other areas, grows as a shrub to small tree and occasionally up to a larger medium size tree, sometimes reaching more than 30 feet high, especially in more tropical areas with proper conditions. In Florida, found from Cedar Keys and just south of St. Augustine south through the Keys. This species and the Black Mangrove feature "breathing roots" and lack the distinctive "stilts" or prop roots of the Red Mangrove. Also, both spp. have much smaller leaves than the Red Mangrove.