Scientific Name
Rhizophora apiculata Blume
Synonyms
Rhizophora candelaria DC. [1]
Vernacular Name
| Malaysia | Bakau minyak, bakau tandok, bakau akik [2] |
| China | Hong shu [3] |
| India | Char, cirugandal, daboja, kaaki ponna, kaakiponna, kaandla, kandal, kantal, pee-kandel, ponna, rai, turu, uppu ponna [3] |
| Indonesia | Bakau minyak (General); bako (Javanese); babakoan laut (Sundanese) [2] |
| Brunei | Bakau minyak, bakau [2] |
| Singapore | Bakau minyak, redtree [2] |
| Thailand | Kongkang-bailek, kongkang [2] |
| Myanmar | Pyoo [2] |
| Philippines | Bakauan (lalaki); uakatan (Tagalog); bakhau (Samar) [2] |
| Cambodia | Kaông ka:ng nhi [2] |
| Vietnam | C[aa]y d[uw][ows]c [2] |
| Papua New Guinea | Bia (Gulf Province); bahkweh (Northern Province); pan a (Central Province) [2]. |
Geographical Distributions
Rhizophora apiculata is commonly found in most mangrove swamps in tropical Asia, from the delta of the Indus in Pakistan to Vietnam and Hainan. It occurs throughout the Malesian region and southwards to the Tropic of Capricorn in Queensland, and eastwards as far as New Caledonia and Ponape (Micronesia). [2] R. apiculata is the most common mangrove species. It grows gregariously in swamps flooded by normal high tide, on deep soft mud of estuaries, often consolidated and sheltered from surf and currents by pioneer species of Avicennia L. and Sonneratia L.f. R. apiculata avoids hard soils and develops well in perhumid regions where it can form almost pure stands, sometimes in association with Bruguiera spp. or R. mucronata. It does not occur in fresh water swamps. It is killed by frost and by extended periods of near-freezing temperatures. [2]
Botanical Description
R. apiculata is a member of the family Rhizophoraceae. It is an evergreen tree that can grow up to over 30 m tall and with trunk up to 50 cm in diameter. It is generally much smaller in exploited forests. The bole is 10-12 m. The stem is supported by numerous, lateral, much branched stilt roots. [2]
The leaves are arranged decussate and rosette-like at the end of twigs. The stipules are 4-8 cm long, lance-shaped, conspicuous and caducous. The reddish petiole is 1.5-3 cm long. The blade is entire, elliptical-oblong to sublanceolate, measuring 7-18 cm x 3-8 cm, leathery, green and shiny. The apex is acute to apiculate, with wedge-shaped base, distinct above veins, obscure beneath, hairless with minute and scattered black corky warts on the lower surface. It is visible on the older or dried leaves. [2]
The inflorescence is axillary (leaf scar below the leaf rosette) and 2-flowered. The peduncle is 0.5-1.5 cm long and thick. The bracteoles at the base of flower are cup-shaped. They are fleshy and slightly crenate. The yellow flowers are bisexual and sessile. The sepal is deeply 4-lobed, coriaceous, accrescent and reflexed in fruit. The lobes are ovate, measuring 10-14 mm x 6-8 mm, concave, acute, brown-yellow to reddish and persistent. The receptacle is with a disk. There are 4 free petals which are lance-shaped, measuring 8-11 mm x 1.5-2 mm, membranous, hairless and early caducous. There are at most 12 stamens which are sessile, with anthers 6-7.5 mm long, acute, multi-loculate and open with a large ventral valve. The ovary is 1.5-3.5 mm long, semi-inferior, and 2-celled where the superior part is enclosed by the disk and bluntly conical. The style is 0.5-1 mm long and 2-lobed. [2]
The brown fruit is an ovoid or inversely pear-shaped berry, measures 2-3.5 cm long and rather rough. The hypocotyl is cylindrical to club-shaped, measures up to 40 cm x 1.2 cm, often slightly curved, more or less blunt, smooth and shining. It is green tinged with red. [2]
The aerial roots sometimes develop from the lower branches. The taproot is usually abortive. Its branching primarily is sympodial. The bark is grey, almost smooth or with vertical fissures. The branchlets are swollen at the nodes. They are solid and pithy. [2]
Cultivation
No documentation
Chemical Constituent
No documentation
Plant Part Used
No documentation
Traditional Use
No documentation
Preclinical Data
No documentation
Clinical Data
No documentation
Poisonous Management
No documentation
Line Drawing
References
- The Plant List. Ver 1.1. Rhizophora apiculata Blume. [homepage on the Internet]. c2013 [updated 2012 Apr 18; cited on 2015 Aug 6]. Available from: http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/tro-27600231
- Hou D, Chan HT. Rhizophora apiculata Blume In: Faridah Hanum I, van der Maesen LJG editors. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 11: Auxiliary plants. Leiden, Netherlands: Backhuys Publisher, 1997; p. 220-223.
- Quattrocchi U. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common names, scientific names, eponyms, synonyms, and etymology. Volume V R-Z. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press; 2012. p. 32.
