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Perepat
Sonneratia alba
Family Avicenniaceae
Perepat is common on the shores of Chek Jawa and Ubin. In fact, the
first trees you will see as you get off the Ubin jetty are the Perepat
trees on either side of the walkway!
Conical Roots: Perepat has thick
cone-shaped pneumatophores that help the tree breathe air. The roots
have ultrafiltration membranes to exclude salt so that the water absorbed
is less salty. Any salt that does get through is stored in old leaves
which are then shed. The bark of young Sonneratia is covered with
a layer of wax, probably to protect it against water loss and attacks
by creatures great and small.
Perepat has thick, round leaves. The flowers are white and look like
pom-poms. These open at night and bloom for only one night. The fruits
are large (4 cm) green, leathery and round with a star-shaped base.
Each fruit ontains 100-150 tiny seeds that are white, flattened and
buoyant.
Perepat can tolerate wide fluctuations in salinity and often grow
on exposed, soft but stable mudbanks low on the tidal mudflats. Perepat
is often the tree found furthest out to sea.
No durians without Perepat? The
fragrant, night-blooming Perepat flowers are pollinated mainly by
the Dawn Bat (Eonycteris spelaea), the Common Long-tailed Bat
(Macroglossus minimus), and the Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat
(Cynopterus brachyotis). These bats feed only on the nectar
and pollen of flowers. They are the same bats that pollinate commercially
important crops such as durians, bananas and papayas. Durians only
bloom one or twice a year and thus cannot sustain the population of
nectar bats. These bats rely on regularly blooming trees like Perepat
for sustenance. The Dawn Bat in particular, prefers Perepat. Thus,
without the Perepat, there would be less of these favourite fruits!
Role in the habitat: Many mangrove
animals and plants depend on Perepat. Perepat are the host trees of
the fireflies (Pteroptyx tener) that perform spectacular synchronised
flashing along the Selangor River in Malaysia. Bakau leaves make up
the bulk of the food eaten by the fascinating Proboscis Monkey (Nasalis
larvatus) of Borneo. Other insects and small creatures also feed
on their leaves and other parts. Being among the first trees to grow
low on the tidal mudflats, Bakau stabilise the riverbanks and coasts,
providing more favourable ground for other types of trees and plants.
Human uses: Perepat is well used
by coastal communities. The ripe fruit is said to taste like cheese.
The leaves may also be eaten raw or cooked, or used as animal fodder.
Perepat may be used for firewood, but is not the preferred mangrove
tree for this purpose. Although it produces a lot of heat, it also
produces a lot of ash and salt. The heavy timber is resistant to shipworm
and pests and is used for building boats, piling and posts for bridges
and houses. However, the wood corrodes metal, probably because of
the timber's high mineral content. The pneumatophores are made into
floats for fishing nets. Because Perepat regenerates branches easily
from the trunk, it is possible to harvest branches without hurting
the tree and maintain mangroves for such harvests (called coppicing).
Perepat is also used in traditional medicine to treat cuts and bruises,
the fruit to treat intestinal parasites and coughs.
Status and threats: Although Perepat
is still commonly seen in our mangroves, the mangroves as an ecosystem
is threatened by development, reclamation and other destructive human
activities. |
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quick
facts
About 20m tall, common in the mangroves
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