Rhizophora mangle

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves, Fruit, Seeds, Leaves - tea, Root

The starchy interior of the fruit is eaten fresh and fermented, and can also be fermented to produce wine. The roots and green sprouts (hypocotyl) are used in the same ways. Dried leaves are brewed for tea, which is high in tannin and should be used sparingly, preferably with milk added to bind the tannin. The roots are used as an emergency food.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows on muddy tidal shores. The floating fruit are not damaged by salt water. It grows in mangrove swamps. It suits hardiness zones 11-12.

Africa, American Samoa, Antilles, Asia, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Central America, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Guiana, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, North America, Pacific, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, Sierra Leone, Society Islands, South America, St. Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Suriname, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, USA, Venezuela, West Africa, West Indies,

How to Identify

An evergreen tree. The crown is thick, round and bushy. There are many tangling aerial roots. The bark is reddish-brown. The leaves are simple and opposite. They are shiny and dark green. They are narrowly oval and leathery. The flowers are white to pale yellow. They have 4 petals. The flowers occur in clusters. The fruit are dark rusty brown. They are egg shaped. The fruit has a starchy interior which is eaten.

How to Grow

The fruit can produce seedlings which float.

Propagation: The seed germinates whilst still on the parent plant. The seedling, known as a propagule, takes 4 - 7 months from fertilization until the emergence of the hypocotyl. Another 4 - 6 months typically elapse before the propagule falls from the parent tree, by which time it is between 8 - 30cm long. Propagules can be collected directly from trees, from the ground, or from water surfaces. Propagules collected from trees should be fully developed and nearing abscission; these propagules usually detach from the pericarp with a gentle pull. Collected propagules should be bright green (except the lower portion, which is normally brown), have no roots or damaged plumules, and be free of other visible damage and/or discoloration. They can be stored in a moist container for at least 3 - 4 weeks before planting out into their permanent positions.

Medicinal Uses

The bark is astringent and febrifuge. It is used in the treatment of haemorrhages, dysentery, diarrhoea, frequent micturition and bladder diseases. A gargle of the bark is used as a remedy for angina. The root is astringent. It is used to treat diarrhoea.

Other Uses

The bark and leaves contain 20 - 30% tannin. An extract from the roots (tannins) is used to preserve lines and nets. The young shoots are used for dyeing; they give red, olive, brown, or slate colours, according to the salts used in association with them. The heartwood is light red, deepening to dark red or reddish-brown, sometimes purplish, it is uniform or more or less striped; it is rather sharply defined from the rather thick band of yellowish, grayish, or pinkish sapwood. The texture is fine to medium; the grain straight to irregular; lustre is low; there is no distinctive odour or taste. The wood is very hard, strong, very heavy, close-grained, durable in water and not attacked by molluscs and teredo. Another report says that it is resistant to attack by decay fungi, but not to marine borers and dry-wood termites. Drying rate is moderate during air seasoning; warp is severe as is surface and end checking. The wood is hard to cut, rather harsh and splintery, takes a good polish. It is used for posts, poles, marine piling, wharves, shipbuilding, construction and general carpentry. The wood is used for fuel and also to make charcoal. Charcoal obtained from his tree is said in Guatemala to be the best of all for the kitchen. Red Mangrove is one of the most valuable trees for creating and preserving shorelines. Sediments depositing among the tree's adventitious prop roots can eventually build up to create land.

Rhizophora mangle, also known as the red mangrove, is a salt-tolerant, small-to-medium sized evergreen tree restricted to coastal, estuarine ecosystems along the southern portions of North America, the Caribbean as well as Central America and tropical West Africa. Its viviparous "seeds", in actuality called propagules, become fully mature plants before dropping off the parent tree. These are dispersed by water until eventually embedding in the shallows. Rhizophora mangle grows on aerial prop roots, which arch above the water level, giving stands of this tree the characteristic "mangrove" appearance. It is a valuable plant in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas coastal ecosystems. The name refers to the red colour on the inner part of its roots when halved, so it does not display any red colour in its regular appearance. In its native habitat it is threatened by invasive species such as the Brazilian pepper tree (Schinus terebinthifolius). The red mangrove itself is considered an invasive species in some locations, such as Hawaii, where it forms dense, monospecific thickets. R. mangle thickets, however, provide nesting and hunting habitat for a diverse array of organisms, including fish, birds, and crocodiles.

Other Information

It is an emergency food.

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