page_title: Cuban mangroves
section_title: Flora
hierarchical_section_title: Cuban mangroves / Flora
caption_attribution_description: English: Mangrove forest in Peninsula Ancón, Sancti Spiritus province, Cuba
context_page_description: Because Cuba is an archipelago made up by 4197 islands, two of them being the largest ones; Cuba proper and Isla de la Juventud, the combined area of coast results in 5,746 square kilometers most of it – 2,200 square miles - covered by mangrove forest.
  These mangrove forests make up 20 percent of the forested areas in the island, covering a total of 4.8 percent of the territory.
context_section_description: Cuban mangrove forests' top layer is made up of 4 tree species: Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove), Avicennia germinans (black mangrove), Laguncularia racemosa (white mangrove) and Conocarpus erectus (button mangrove). Depending on several factors, including water salinity, fresh water flow, coast shape and water depth, the size and distribution of those 4 species can differ. In some places, a mono-forest (made up by just one species) is found; in other places, all 4 species occur naturally. Sizes vary from very tall forests with a canopy at 15 meters (49.21 feet) of altitude, or as small as shrubs no taller than 2 meters (6.56 feet).
  The mangrove forest is also built with many other botanical species; they are usually identified as “associated species”. This is a short list of the most predominant:
  Thespesia populnea (Portia tree),
  Hibiscus tiliaceus (Sea hibiscus),
  Bontia daphnoides (Sea olive),
  Haematoxylum campechianum (Bloodwood),
  Bravaisia tubiflora (Hulube),
  Dalbergia ecastophyllum (Dalbergia) and several species of trees from the Lucida genera.
  Salinity permitting, in some areas the forest is also formed by under story species adapted to high levels of salt; 
  Acrostichum aureum (golden leather fern), 
  Batis marítima (Saltwort)
  Among the branches of the larger trees live a large amount of epiphyte plants of the Tillandsia genera - usually called by their Taino name curujeyes in Cuba and the rest of the Caribbean islands, and referred as bromeliads in English - as well as many types of orchids from the Encyclea, Tulumnea and Vanilla genera.
caption: Mangrove forest in Peninsula Ancón, Sancti Spiritus province, Cuba
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