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ANOMALOUS AERIAL ROOTS IN GREY MANGROVES OF AN ARID CLIMATE LAGOON

S. M. SAIFULLAH*, SADAF GUL AND F. RASOOL**

Abstract: The mangrove genus Avicennia possesses pencil like aerial roots called pneumatophores which are first order laterals of the subterranean cable roots and protrude vertically above the sediment surface (Chapman, 1976). However, anomalous positively geotropic aerial roots are reported in the black mangrove Avicennia germinans (L.) L., from Florida and Costa Rica (Snedaker et al., 1981) which unlike the normal pneumatophores grow downwards from the exposed basal part of the trunk. This was considered to be an exception among mangroves and a consequence of oil pollution and acute anoxia. But the present study shows that such abnormal roots may also occur in the pan-tropical grey mangrove Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh. growing in apparently unpolluted areas.
 

Mangrove Ecosystem Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.
WWF-Pakistan, PECHS, Karachi 75400, Pakistan
Corresponding Author: smsaifullah2001@yahoo.com.