Species: Aegiceras corniculatum

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 4 m high, mostly shrubs.
• Trunk: It has smooth, grey bark.  Trunk and some branches are covered in lenticels (air pores), which assist with atmospheric gas exchange.
• Roots: Roots develop along the soil surface, exposed to air during low tide so they can uptake oxygen.
• Leaf Identification: Obovate (spoon-shaped with a rounded tip), leaves arranged alternately and in spiral along the stem.
• Leaf Colour: Glossy green on the upper side and paler green on the reverse side, with minute glands for excreting excess salt from the plant.
• Flowers: White and small, in umbellate clusters. The scent is similar to rotten bananas.
• Fruits and seeds: Light green to pink, small, curved, cylindrical and elongated, fleshy.

Reproduction: Bisexual flowers appear more profusely in late spring and summer with minor flowering occurring throughout the year. As a viviparous species, the seeds partially germinate before the fruits fall (propagules), usually between summer and autumn. This allows for quick establishment once they settle. They are dispersed from the parent tree by tidal water movement.

Habitat: Intertidal zones with soft muds and sandy soils such as the seashore, wetlands, and the margins of tidal estuaries, creeks and rivers. Often at the seaward edge of the mangrove zone.