Breeze_Issue_001_ChildrenOfTheSea

Being consistently warm and humid, the
climate of the Maldives is ideal for luxuriant
growth of tropical trees and shrubs.
However, when compared to other tropical
regions, the low-lying coral islands of the
Maldives are challenging grounds for plants. There are
hardly any nutrients in the soil, and freshwater is only
available during the rainy season.
It’s believed that no plants are indigenous to the
Maldives. The 300 or so plant species that have
colonised the Maldives arrived from neighbouring
continents. Sometimes seeds arrived stuck to the
feathers of visiting birds and sometimes they were
carried in by the sea current. The sea current also
brought in parts of plants and occasionally an entire
specimen! For successful colonisation, all of these
plant species had to be saltwater tolerant and capable
of extracting freshwater from seawater.
Apart from the plant species that journeyed to the
Maldives, around the same number of species have
been brought in and cultivated by man for food, timber,
building materials, and sometimes simply for their
beauty.
The plant communities found in the Maldives can be
divided into four groups. There are those hardy ones
that live on the foreshore, those that live on the beach
crest and those that live in the relatively comfortable
environment of the inner islands. Additionally there
are a number of mangrove plants that grow in the
Maldives. Those species are mainly found in enclosed
or semi-enclosed brackish water bodies, or in muddy
areas. In this issue, we will look in detail at the plants
found in the first two categories.
Plants of the foreshore
The lower beach zone that extends from the high tide
line to the low tide mark is a harsh environment. It’s
exposed to wave action, wind and salt spray. The soil
is unstable and consists of coarse coral and shingle.
Due to the severe conditions of this zone, vegetation
is scarce except for some occasional creeping sand
binders and a few other species.
Beach morning glory or Goat’s foot
Dhivehi name: Than’buru
This is a tough salt resistant plant that prefers
to grow on the upper levels of the beach dunes.
From there it colonises the lower beach areas
by sending out long sprawling runners. This
creeper bears beautiful blue and red flowers
and produces salt water resistant seeds that
float. This is an important stabiliser of sandy
shore ecosystems.
Bigfoot sedgeat’s foot
Bigfoot sedge, a typical feature of sandy tropical
beaches, grows close to the shoreline and
comes with a ball shaped flower head.
Stabilisers and
windbreakers of
the beach crest
The beach crest or the beach top includes a stable
area consisting of coral sand and rubble. Similarly to
the lower beach, this area is also exposed to winds
and salty spray, and occasionally gets inundated by
seawater. However, it provides a suitable environment
for a number of trees, shrubs, sand-binding creepers
and herbaceous plants that often serve as a protective
barrier for the plants located in the inner island.
Fan flower
Dhivehi name: Magoo
Besides the coconut palm, the fan flower is
probably the most common plant in Maldives.
This woody shrub bears small white flowers that
look like fans. The fan flower community forms
an effective windbreak of about 3 to 4 feet.
Tree heliotrope
Dhivehi name: Boashi
The tree heliotrope has been found to be
dominant in the plant community of the beach
crest especially in the northern islands of the
Maldives. These woody beach plants can grow
up to 6 metres in height and are located quite
close to the high tide line. However, because
they don’t grow too close together, they don’t
form effective windbreakers.
Iron wood
Dhivehi name: Kuredhi
This is a dense shrub with small white flowers.
Bay cedar
Dhivehi name: Halaveli
This multi branched low-lying shrub with small
leaves is an important stabilizer of the sandy
coastal ecosystem. This shrub with small leaves
occurs frequently on the beaches of many
tropical countries.
44 BREEZE BY COCO COLLECTION SEPTEMBER 2015