strongCopyright - All Rights Reserved - Black Diamond Images/strongbr/br/These images were taken at Shelly Beach, Red Head, NSW on the beach below the Littoral Rainforest. There are just 2 ancient trees, one of which must be many hundreds of years old. There is only one other small plant that appears to be now established. The nearest other mangrove species would be in Khappingat Creek to the north and west and in the Wallis lake Estuary to the south.br/br/stronguSpecies Information/u/strongbr/Family - Acanthaceaebr/br/a href="http://wiki.trin.org.au/Mangroves/Avicennia_marina"; target="_blank"Avicennia marina/a is distributed along the east coast of Africa, Southwest Asia, throughout south and south-east Asia, and into Australia. It also occurs in New Zealand between 34 and 38 degrees south.br/Avicennia marina is the most widely distributed mangrove species in Australia, occurring in virtually all mainland estuaries and embayments, including the southern most distribution of mangroves in the world, at Corner Inlet, Victoria. Avicennia marina has pencil-like pneumatophores and small orange flowers. Leaves have a silvery-gray under surface and a pointed tip. This species has three varieties, with significant genetic mixing where their distribution overlaps.br/The other two subsp. are - Avicennia marina subsp. eucalyptifolia and Avicennia marina subsp. marina.br/a href="http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswflamp;lvl=inamp;name=Avicennia~marina~subsp.+australasica"; target="_blank"Plant.Net/abr/br/Although not considered a rainforest species I have included these images in my a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackdiamondimages/sets/72157603278540966/"; target="_blank"Flickr set of images/a due to the close proximity of the plants to Red Head Littoral Rainforest Reserve.