Besides the typical curved buttress roots (fig.) characteristic to some species of mangrove, such as Rizophora (fig.), the latter as well as the Sonneratia and Avicennia classes of mangrove also have roots that grow upward from the soil, the so-called pneumatophores.

These prickle roots break the surface like church spires and are for taking in oxygen through special pores during low tide, and also excrete excess salt making the shrub tolerant of high salinity.