Breeze_Issue_001_ChildrenOfTheSea

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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
FLORA & FAUNA Bay cedar Dhivehi name: Halaveli www.cococollection.com 45
Page 1 and 2: B Y C O C O C O L L E C T I O n CHI
Page 3 and 4: www.cococollection.com 3
Page 5 and 6: INSIDE THIS ISSUE 8Moving Mountains
Page 7 and 8: Looking back, looking ahead Welcome
Page 9 and 10: NATURE & GEOLOGY MOVING MOUNTAINS H
Page 11 and 12: NATURE & GEOLOGY The Maldivian arch
Page 13 and 14: HISTORY PAGES www.cococollection.co
Page 15 and 16: HISTORY PAGES Pyrard and his crew m
Page 17 and 18: HISTORY PAGES “Pyrard seems to ma
Page 19 and 20: ISLAND CULTURE A Journey to Goidhoo
Page 21 and 22: MALE’ GUIDE 3 The Islamic Centre
Page 25 and 26: FEATURE CHILDREN OF THE SEA WORDS A
Page 27 and 28: FEATURE Times have changed; today t
Page 29 and 30: FEATURE Be it snorkelling, SCUBA di
Page 31 and 32: FEATURE You will be overcome with d
Page 33 and 34: DESIGN & INSPIRATION Sail Sea & WOR
Page 35 and 36: DESIGN & INSPIRATION Kissaru Wadaan
Page 37 and 38: DESIGN & INSPIRATION Arrival of mod
Page 39 and 40: MARINE BIOLOGY TURTLE POWER WORDS A
Page 41 and 42: MARINE BIOLOGY Chiara Fumagalli lea
Page 43: FLORA & FAUNA Trees of the Maldives
Page 47 and 48: CUISINE The Melting Pot WORDS NASHI
Page 49 and 50: CUISINE Until recently, Maldivians
Page 51 and 52: COCO RECIPES The Recipes: Herb crus
Page 53 and 54: UNDERWATER FEATURE Take the plunge
Page 55 and 56: UNDERWATER FEATURE Anemone The anem
Page 57 and 58: ARTS & CULTURE www.cococollection.c
Page 59 and 60: ART & CULTURE “When you see a thu
Page 61 and 62: WELLNESS As I sit with Patt, she te
Page 63 and 64: FASHION TIPS Long Sleeves We’ve a
Page 65 and 66: HEALTH balance of fitness, organic
Page 67 and 68: WELLBEING WORDS FATHIMATH LAMYA ABD
Page 69 and 70: EXPERIENCE Cinema Paradiso Movies u
Page 71 and 72: COCO FAMILY Meet the family WORDS N
Page 73 and 74: 2015 Collection For inquries: +960
Page 75 and 76: MALDIVES FACTS Male’- The capital

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