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Black Mangrove

Avicennia germinans

Found in brackish and salt marshes and swamps, in tidal flats and lagoons. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

45
Good

Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 24%

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At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 25 Florida counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 3

Swamps

Loblolly bay in a coastal swamp
Regional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal swamps, Florida to Virginia; state not identified, a neighboring state.Loblolly bay in a coastal swamp, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 150 animals.

All wildlife of Florida

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

6CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Avicennia

  • Junonia neildiMangrove Buckeye
  • Madoryx pseudothyreusFalse-Windowed Sphinx
  • Megalopyge opercularisSouthern Flannel Moth, Puss Caterpillar
  • Penestola bufalisBlack Penestola
  • Tallula watsoniWatson's Tallula
  • Gymnandrosoma desotanum
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
2BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Avicennia

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Avicennia

  • Patagioenas leucocephalaWhite-crowned Pigeon
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Acanthaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Conservation status

Florida rankS4S5
Global rankNot available
FL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source

In your garden

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Sources