Mangrove tree in south New Caledonia

Mangroves are tropical trees or shrubs belonging to various species of angiosperms, able to thrive along marine shores in the tidal swing zone.

They have generally adopted viviparity to propagate: the seeds, rather than risking being drowned or asphyxiated, germinate on the tree and it is young seedlings that detach from the mother tree to stick directly in the mud.