Heritiera utilis (Sprague) Sprague

A large tree. It grows 35 m tall. The trunk is crooked. It does not have branches for the first 20 m. It can be 150 cm or more across the trunk. It has high, thin buttresses. The crown is compact and rounded. The leaves are alternate. They can be simple or have lobes like the fingers on a hand. The leaf blade is 5-30 cm long and 2-10 cm wide if simple. There can be 5-7 leaflets. The flowers are of one sex. The male flowers are joined in a column while the female flowers are more loose. The fruit is 1-6 woody nuts. These are 2.5 cm long by 1.5 cm wide and have a large wing. The wing is 8 cm long by 3 cm wide.

Evergreen forest, moist semi-deciduous forest and gallery forest, also in secondary forest, usually at elevations lower than 500 metres. It is often found along watercourses and in swamps, being very drought-sensitive.

Plants grow from seeds. Seeds need to be planted fresh. They then germinate in 3-4 days. The seedlings have a taproot and side roots. Young leaves are simple and older leaves have 5 leaflets. Seedling leaflets are larger than mature leaflets.