Covered in small, butter-yellow flowers and thick green leaves, an unusual bush looks out of place amidst the surrounding sea of black needlerush marsh grass. It is a black mangrove, a plant typically associated with the coastlines of south Florida and the Caribbean. This particular bush is believed to be growing farther north than any other black mangrove on the Gulf Coast.
Scientists from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service are studying the bush and three smaller black mangroves growing nearby. The other bushes are all a few hundred yards farther south, but still many miles north of the next closest group of mangroves, which grow on the Chandeleur Islands off Louisiana. The mangroves there are relatively recent arrivals as well, apparently gaining a foothold after warmer winters in recent years.
