Mangrove Boardwalk

Salisbury City Council manages the Mangrove Boardwalk at St Kilda, SA. There is a good interpretive centre well worth spending time in before embarking on the walk. The information is easy to read by children and there are some interactive displays.

See my husband’s travel blog for more on this unique area.

I did not know that Mangroves (in this case the Grey Mangrove) have a most interesting method of propagation. After fertilzation occurs in the flower, the seed develops in the fruit. When ready to be shed, the ‘seed’ is actually a fully formed ‘seedling’ which will send down a root into the mud. The leaves are already formed. Apparently many are washed out to sea with the out going tides.

From the Boardwalk to Gulf St. Vincent

In order for the plant to get oxygen, the roots grow vertically from the mud. Some old trees send roots out from trunk and branches. One of the signs made the comment that some of the old trees in the Mangrove forest were probably there when Colonel William Light sailed past at the beginning of colonisation in South Australia.

Mangrove Forest showing roots

The walking trail has been designed for wheel chairs and walkers. A small gopher would probably negotiate the trail well also.