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Sonneratia apetala Buch.-ham.

Keora (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Myrtales > Lythraceae > Sonneratia

Characteristics

Medium-sized tree up to 12 m; twigs pendulous. Leaves sparse, 5½-13 by 1½-3¾ cm, gradually tapering towards the apex, attenuate at the base; nerves and veins indistinct; petiole ½-1 cm. Inflorescence mostly 3-flowered. Buds oblong, 1½ cm long. Calyx (incl. tube and lobes) in flower ± 1½-2 cm long, smooth, not ribbed; segments twice as long as the tube. Ovary 5-8-celled, nearly free from the calyx. Stigma in bud roofing over the androecium, but little protruding above it, during anthesis flattening and broadening, up to 7 mm diam., papillose, persistent. Fruit pale, broader than high, broadly globose; walls not thickened, 12-18 mm high, ± 2¼ cm diam. Calyx tube flat (as in S. caseolaris), lobes under the ripe fruit apparently horizontally expanded or subreflexed.
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Columnar trees to 15(-20) m tall. Pneumatophores to 1.5 m; ultimate branchlets pendulous. Petiole 5-10 mm; leaf blade narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, gradually tapering toward apex, 5-13 × 1.5-4 cm, base attenuate, apex obtuse. Flowers 4(-6)-merous in a 3-7-flowered cyme. Floral tube 1.5-2.5 cm at anthesis, smooth; sepals green, slightly curving around base of fruit. Petals absent. Staminal filaments white. Stigma peltate, to 7 mm wide. Fruit 1-2 × 2-2.5 cm in diam. Seeds typically U-shaped or falcate, 8-9.5 mm. Fl. May-Dec, fr. Aug-Apr.
A tree. It is willow like. It grows 15 m tall. It has aerial roots 1.5 m long. The end branches hand down. The leaves are narrowly oval and taper to the tip. They are 5-13 cm long by 2-4 cm wide. The flowers are in groups of 3-7. They do not have petals. The fruit are 1-2 cm long by 2-3 cm wide. The seeds are U shaped.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 15.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A well-characterized species, on the whole much less common than S. alba and S. caseolaris. In a specimen all stigmas were covered by adhering quartz sand which suggests that they are sticky.
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Upstream estuarine zones in the low to mid-intertidal regions, where it colonizes newly accreted mudflats of moderate to strongly saline conditions, often forming pure stands.
A tropical plant. It grows in mangrove swamps. It grows in wetlands.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

The fruit are eaten in curries. They are also eaten raw.
Uses material medicinal timber wood
Edible fruits
Therapeutic use Anti-bacterial agents (unspecified), Diabetes mellitus (unspecified), Leprosy (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) 20 - 30
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Sonneratia apetala unspecified picture

Distribution

Sonneratia apetala world distribution map, present in Bangladesh, China, India, Iceland, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Viet Nam

Conservation status

Sonneratia apetala threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:554266-1
WFO ID wfo-0001237023
COL ID 4Y9T8
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Kambala pendula Blatti apetala Sonneratia apetala
WorldFloraDB 2024