WorldFloraDB - Rhizophora apiculata

Characteristics

Tree up to over 30 m tall and 50 cm diam.; bole 10-12 m. Branching primarily sympodial. Leaves elliptic-oblong to sublanceolate, 7-18 by 3-8 cm, acute to apiculate, base cuneate; midrib ± tinged reddish beneath; petiole 1.5-3 cm, tinged reddish. Stipules 4-8 cm long. Inflorescences 2-flowered, peduncle thick, 0.5-1.5 cm. Flowers sessile, developing from the cupular involucre after the falling of the sustaining leaf, yellow; mature buds elliptic; 14 mm long; bracteoles at the base of the flower cup-shaped, fleshy, crenulate. Calyx lobes brown-yellow to reddish, ovate, concave, acute, 10-14 by 6-8 mm. Petals 8-11 by 1.5-2 mm, lanceolate, glabrous, membranous, covering the epipetalous stamen only on the back. Stamens mostly 12, 4 epipetalous, and 4 pairs episepalous (sometimes 1 or 2 pairs with only 1 stamen), 6-7.5 mm long, sessile, acute. Superior part of the ovary 1½-2.5 mm high, enclosed by the disk, bluntly conical; style 0.5-1 mm, 2-lobed. Fruit obpyriform, rather rough, 2-2.5 cm long, brown, the protruding part of the cotyledons red, 12-20 mm long. Hypocotyl cylindric-club-shaped, ± blunt, green with purple, up to 38 cm by 12 mm before falling.

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Tree to 25 m high, often with several trunks; bark black, often with pale horizontal and vertical stripes, especially near base. Leaves elliptic or broadly lanceolate, dark green and shiny above, paler below, not spotted; lamina 8–19 cm long, 4–9 cm wide; petiole 1–4 cm long. Inflorescence usually 2-flowered and borne below oldest leaves; peduncle 5–15 mm long, 5 mm wide, slightly flattened; pedicels very short; bracteoles completely united into a bulbous cup with brown, cork-like, longitudinal fissures in upper half. Petals 8–11 mm long, glabrous, membranous, not involute. Stamens usually 11 or 12; anthers 6–8 mm long, sessile. Upper part of ovary shallowly conical, 1.5–2.5 mm high; style 0.5–1 mm long; stigma 2-lobed. Fruit rough, pyriform, usually 2–2.5 cm long. Hypocotyl 20–40 cm long, club-shaped.

Trees or shrubs, 3-6(-10) m tall. Bark gray, usually with vertical fissures. Stipules 4-8 cm. Petiole 1.5-3 cm, usually tinged reddish; leaf blade elliptic-oblong to sublanceolate, 7-16 × 3-6 cm, abaxial midvein reddish, base broadly cuneate, apex acute to apiculate. Inflorescences 2-flowered cymes; peduncle 0.7-10 mm. Flowers sessile. Calyx lobes ovate, concave, 1-1.4 cm, apex acute. Petals lanceolate, flat, 6-8 mm, membranaceous, glabrous, white. Stamens mostly 12, 4 adnate to base of petals, 8 adnate to sepals, 6-7.5 mm; anthers nearly sessile, apex apiculate. Ovary largely enclosed by disk, free part 1.5-2.5 mm; style ca. 1 mm. Fruit ca. 2.5 × 1.5 cm, apical half narrower. Hypocotyl cylindric-clavate, ca. 3.8 × 1.2 cm, ± blunt before falling. Fl. and fr. all year.

A medium height straight tree. It grows up to 5-12 m tall. It usually has prop roots covered with breathing pores. The leaves are dark green and not rolled at the edge. They are somewhat dull on top and twice as long as wide and end in a sharp tip. The leaves can be 8-19 cm long and 4-9 cm wide. The flowers are in pairs or short stalks. They are cream and 1.5 cm long. The flowers normally occur as 2 together below the oldest leaves. The fruit are relatively small 21 mm wide. The hypocotyl is green and about 280 mm long with a blunt tip.

Life form	perennial
Growth form	tree
Growth support	free-standing
Foliage retention	evergreen
Sexuality	hermaphrodite
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Mature height (meter)	5.0 - 12.0
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Photosynthetic pathway	c3

Environment

Gregarious on deep soft mud of estuaries flooded by normal high tides and forming often 90% of the crop, avoiding bottoms which are harder and mixed with sand. Bark grey, with vertical fissures rather than horizontal, sometimes producing aerial roots from the branches. Crabs are sometimes, according to Watson, a menace to the upgrowth of the seedlings by devouring or removing the bark of the seedlings until they are completely girdled or even bitten right through. In the Malay Peninsula judged to be a slow grower attaining 30 cm diam. in 35 years.

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A tropical plant. It occurs in the middle to upper part of the mangrove where fresh water runoff is constant. It occurs from India, Australia to Vanuatu.

Grows in deep mud below mean high water level.

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Usage

Uses. This most important species has red-brown, heavy, and hard heart-wood. The trees are standing in places very densely and make a pure forest up creeks and in estuaries behind the protecting belt of Avicennia. The timber of both R. apiculata and R. mucronata is used indiscriminately. A great advantage of Rhizophora in the eyes of fire-wood dealers is that it can easily be split. Besides it has a high caloric value.Branched stilt-roots are used for anchors weightened by a stone.

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The fruit are boiled in water then eaten.

Uses	charcoal environmental use food fuel invertebrate food material medicinal social use timber wood
Edible	fruits leaves
Therapeutic use	Anti-infective agents, local (bark), Diarrhea (bark), Nausea (bark), Typhoid fever (bark), Vomiting (bark), Anti-bacterial agents (wood), Antifungal agents (wood), Anti-infective agents (wood), Insect repellents (wood)
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Cultivation

It is normally self sown.

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