Species: Bruguiera gymnorhiza

Status (IUCN): Least concern. However, mangrove forests are considered highly significant ecological communities and are overall in decline in many areas due to localised threats and climate change.

Characteristics

• Height:  Up to 35 m high.
• Roots: Knee roots that grow up to 60 cm vertically and emerge from the underground root system. They can grow within a radius of 10 m around the tree. These knee roots are covered in lenticels (air pores) that assist with gas exchange.  Some trees may also have stilt roots.
• Trunk: Dense, erect and bark is rough and dark brown, dark gray to black. It can reach a diameter of 20 – 40 cm.
• Leaf Identification:  Elliptic, pointed, arranged opposite one another on the stems, 12 – 25 cm long, 3 – 9 cm wide.  thick, glossy and glabrous. Arranged opposite to one another on the stems and can have three or four leaves formed simultaneously.
• Leaf Colour: Smooth and dark green on the upper side and waxy and light green on the reverse side; no glands for excreting excess salt.
• Flowers: Colours vary from light orange to dark pink and dark red. They are 3 – 5 cm long. They are axillary flowers and grow at the end of each branch.
• Fruits and seeds: The seeds (propagules) are the fruit. They are 20 -25 cm long on average and the colour varies from greenish to burgundy when ripe. They grow within the flower’s calyx tube and are held by the flower, hanging vertically from the tree branches.

Reproduction: Bisexual flowers appear from late winter to summer. As a viviparous species, the seeds (propagules) grow vertically. Once fully developed, they fall from the tree darting into the ground, allowing for quick establishment once they settle. If the propagules fall into the water instead of the soil, they disperse from the parent tree by tidal water movement.

Habitat: Intertidal zones with soft muds and sand such as the seashore, wetlands, and the margins of tidal estuaries as well as in black soil outside the intertidal zone on the coast.