Sonneratia caseolaris (L.) Engler
Family
Sonneratiaceae
Synonyms
Rhizophora caseolaris L., Sonneratia acida L.f., Sonneratia obovata Blume.
Vernacular Names
|
Malaysia |
Pedada, berembang, perepat. |
|
Indonesia |
Pidada, perepat, bogem (Sundanese). |
|
Papua New Guinea |
Pagapate. |
|
Philippines |
Pagatpat (Tagalog), hikaw-hikawan (Tagalog), bunayon (Bisaya). |
|
Myanmar |
Tapoo, tamoo. |
|
Cambodia |
‘âm’-pië. |
|
Thailand |
Lamphu (Central). |
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Vietnam |
B[aaf]n chua. |
Geographical Distributions
Sonneratia caseolaris is native to South and Southeast Asia and is distributed from India and Sri Lanka up to southern China, and throughout Southeast Asia to northern Australia and the western Pacific islands.
Description
Sonneratia caseolaris is a tree that can grow up to 5-15(-20) m tall and without buttressed trunk. The branches are horizontal or drooping and with lax crown. The root system consists of extended cable roots that give rise to descending anchor roots which are numerous and erect. It often has branched, cone-shaped pneumatophores (breathing roots) which extends 0.2-2.5 m above the substrate, and with numerous narrow feeding roots that develope horizontally in the substrate. The bark is flaky and greyish pale brown. The young branchlets are quadrangular, occasionally 4-winged and with 2 pairs of glands.
The leaves are simple, with opposite arrangement, entire, hairless and leathery. The leaf blade is elliptical, ovate or obovate, measuring 4-13 cm x 2-7 cm, rounded at apex, and often with recurved mucro while the veins are not prominent.
The flower is aterminal, either single or in groups of 2 or 3 and 4-8-merous. The pedicel is short and often quadrangular. The sepal is tubular, measures 3-4.5 cm long, leathery, 5-8-lobed and persistent in fruit. The petals are always present, linear, measuring 20-30 mm x 1-3 mm, red and early caduceus. The stamens are numerous, inflexed in bud, early caducous, reddish or rarely with white filaments and measure 2-3 cm long. The ovary is superior, sessile, 13-21 locular while the style is 4-6 mm long.
The fruit is a depressed-spherical berry, measures 5-7.5 cm in diametre, 3-4 cm long, with fleshy pulp and leathery green, glossy pericarp, crowned by the style at the base, indehiscent, resting on the persistent calyx which is spreading and not enclosing the fruit.
The seeds are numerous, irregularly angular and measure about 7 mm long.
Ecology / Cultivation
Sonneratia caseolaris is common in the inner parts of mangrove forests on deep muddy soils and extends inland along tidal creeks usually as far as the influence of salinity extends. Its characteristic habitat consists of river banks and tidal areas with mud banks, often in upstream estuarine positions of rivers subjected to large volumes of freshwater run-off. In some instances, it has been found growing in fully fresh water without any connection with brackish water.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
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Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 8: Vegetables.
