Open or closed stands of trees and bushes occurring in the tropics in inter-tidal zones, usually around the mouths of rivers, creeks and lagoons where soils are heavy textured and have a fluctuating salt content and soil level. A name used collectively for the assemblage of plants, as well as to refer to individual genera or species, for example, woody members of the Rhizophoraceae, Combretaceae and Verbenaceae. These have knee-like roots that are 'pneumatophores' (roots with air spaces). Grown for wood and tannins.