Species compositions in the mangrove habitats of China and India, especially on Hainan Island （China） and on the Sun- darbans and the Andaman ＆ Nicobar Islands （India）, are of interest, showing several similarities and differences. The total mangrove areas of India cover about 6419 km^2 with 43 species （23 major and 20 minor species）, while the mangrove areas of China cover about 150 km^2 with 26 speices （19 major and 7 minor speices）. We carried out a comparison of mangrove floras in the Indian Sundarbans, Andaman ＆ Nicobar Islands and in Hainan Island. The mangrove areas of the Indian Sundarbans comprise about 66.5% of the total Indian mangroves, presently covering an area of 4267 km^2 with 35 species from 22 genera and 16 families. There are 34 species from 17 genera and l 3 families in the Andaman ＆ Nicobar Islands. Hainan Island is considered a distribution center of mangroves; it has the largest number of mangrove species in China, i.e., 25 species from 15 genera and 12 families, accounting for about 96% of the total number of mangrove species in China. The mangroves of Hainan Island and the Andaman ＆ Nicobar Islands belong to island types, while those of Sundarbans belong to inter-tidal deltaic types. Differences in soil type, rainfall, temperature, tidal fluctuation and other climatic features possibly cause variations in floristic composition of these regions.
YAO Yi-fengSubir BERAKumudranlan NASKARLIAO Wen-boLI Cheng-sen
