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| mangroves > Bruguiera in general |
| Tumu Bruguiera gymnorrhiza Family Rhizophoraceae updated Aug 09 Where seen? This tree is sometimes seen in our mangroves, the bright red 'flowers' providing a splash of colour to the forest. According to Ng, it grows best on dry, well aerated soil towards the landward side but in Singapore, also found in mud. According to Hsuan Keng, it was common including at Jurong, Changi and Tuas. According to Tomlinson, it is a characteristic of the middle mangrove community and has been described as "the largest and probably the longest lived of the mangrove community". It has the broadest range of the genus and of all mangroves, from East Africa including Madagascar, Sri Lanka, the Malay peninsula, Micronesia and Polynesia to Ryu Kyu Islands and tropical Australia (Western Australia and Queensland). It was previously known as B. conjugata. Features: Tree to about 15m in Singapore, elsewhere to 30m or more. Bark rough, black, fissured in a regular chequered pattern. With buttress and knee roots. Leaves oval, shiny green and stiff, sometimes reddish on the underside, arranged opposite one another. Stipules often reddish. Flowers appear singly on a pendulous flower stalk, one flower per leaf angle. The flowers are large with cup-shaped calyx that has 12-14 lobes. The calyx is bright red in the sun but may be pale or yellowish in the shade. Petals thin, pale orange and tipped with tassels. According to Tomlinson, the large flowers are pollinated by birds. The petals of the flower form a 'pouch' that holds loose pollen and are under tension. When probed at the base, the 'pouched' petal unzips to scatter a cloud of pollen over the head of the visiting bird. Propagule develops on the parent plant: not very long hypocotyl (15-25cm long), fat and cigar-shaped, slightly angular with a blunt tip and the calyx lobes clasping the hypocotyl (not bent towards the stalk). Human uses: According to Burkill, tannin extracted from it is used to treat fishing lines as well as a black dye. The hypocotyls are eaten, after boiling and scraping the outer skin, "but not when there is anything better available". The bark is used to flavour raw fish, but "eating too much is dangerous". Leaves are also served raw as flavouring. Medicinal uses include the bark as an astrigent in diarrhoea and sometimes to treat malaria in Cambodia. |
 Buttress and knee roots. St. John's Island, Aug 09  Pulau Ubin, Jan 09 |
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 Pulau Semakau, Jan 09 |
 Opened 'pouch' petals. |
 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Mar 11  'Pouched' petals not yet open. |
 Pasir Ris Park, Aug 09  |
 Pulau Ubin, Jan 09 |
 Kranji Nature Trail, Jan 09 |
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 Kranji Nature Trail, Jan 09 |
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 Pulau Hantu, May 09  |
 Pulau Hantu, May 09  |
 Growing on the seawall. Pulau Hantu, May 09 |
 Lim Chu Kang, May 11 |
 Lim Chu Kang, May 11 |
 Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Aug 09 |
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Links
References
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Singapore University Press. 222 pp.|
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