Red Mangrove Fruit aka "the javelin"

The Red Mangrove Fruit in mid-germination

The red mangrove plant faces seed dispersion challenges similar to those of the boxfruit which I mentioned in my earlier post.  However, the innovative fruit uses a completely different method of seed dispersal.  After all, who said a seed had to wait fifteen long years to germinate when it could simply do so on its parent plant?  Well, that is exactly what the red mangrove fruit does. Once fertillised, it would germinate and begin to grow a vertical dormant root straight towards the ground while still on the parent tree.  Once the parent tree decided that this root was long enough, the fruit would drop off and hopefully onto muddy soil, where it would pierce straight in like a javelin.  This ensures that the "plantlet" does not get washed away by the tidal currents and germinates as an independent plant almost immediately.