Rhizophora mucronata

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves, Fruit, Coffee

The leaves and fruit are eaten. The plant is also used to make a coffee substitute.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows well in brackish and salt water swamp areas. It needs an open sunny position. It is damaged by drought and frost. They are common in mangrove swamps throughout the Philippines.

Africa, Andamans, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, East Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Guam, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Kiribati, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mozambique, Myanmar, New Caledonia, Pacific, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Philippines, Ryukyu, Samoa, SE Asia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Vanuatu, Vietnam, West Timor, Yap,

How to Identify

A medium sized tree. It grows to 30 m high and spreads to 3 m across. The stem is erect and branching. It has branched stilt roots. The leaves are leathery, oblong and shiny. The tip of the leaf ends in a slender thorn like extension of the midrib. Leaves are 10 cm long. The flower stalks are among the leaves and as long as the leaf stalks. Flowers are small. The leaf stalks are white to cream. The fruit are pear shaped and brown with a brown rough surface with glands. The hypocotyl is long and cylindrical. It is 20-40 cm long and 1.5-2 cm wide.

How to Grow

A plant of coastal areas of the moist to wet lowland tropics and subtropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 28°c, but can tolerate 15 - 32°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 2,500mm, but tolerates 1,000 - 3,000mm. Requires a sunny position. A plant of saline and brackish soils that are inundated by salt water at high tides, it is also often found in deep, soft mud. Plants can tolerate a pH in the range 6 - 8.5.Prefers a pH in the range 6.7 - 7.2, tolerating 6.5 - 7.5. The tree grows slowly. In Peninsular Malaysia it takes 35 - 40 years to reach up to 19 cm in diameter. A 40-years rotation is favourable. There is a characteristic development of the seed in this genus. One seed is developed per fruit and starts to germinate when the fruit is still attached or hanging on the tree; this phenomenon is known as viviparous germination and is common among mangrove plants. The root (radicle) gradually protrudes from the fruit, at first like a green cigar, then grows into a rod-like structure. In this species such a seedling root (hypocotyl) with a rough and warty surface may attain a considerable length (sometimes over 100 cm), the largest and longest in the genus. Later the seedling falls out of the fruit, drops into the mud and sooner or later begins to grow. The seedlings that have fallen into the water at high tide commonly drift to another place or are washed up on the shore; they retain their vitality for several months, and will survive and grow if the spot is ecologically suitable. The main root of the seedling is usually abortive and lateral roots take over its function.

Propagation: Seed - young seedlings, gathered from the wild, can be used for planting. Natural regeneration always occurs near mature trees. There is a form of vegetative spread of the trees by horizontal growth of the lower branches supported by stilt roots; these branches can continue to grow if the parent trunk dies.

Medicinal Uses

Rhizophora mucronata has multiple uses. It is used to help prevent coastal erosion and in restoration of mangrove habitats. The timber is used for firewood and in the construction of buildings, as poles and pilings, and in making fish traps. The fruits can be cooked and eaten or the juice extracted to make wine, and the young shoots can be consumed as a vegetable. The bark is used in tanning and a dye can be extracted from both bark and leaves. Various parts of the plant are used in folk medicine.

Other Uses

The bark is an important local source of tannin. It is used for tanning leather and to toughen and dye lines, nets, and ropes used by fishermen. According to laboratory investigations, mangrove tannin extracted from the bark could be used to produce adhesive for the manufacture of plywood and particle board. The quantity of tannin in the bark may vary greatly. In air-dried bark the tannin content varies from 8 - 40%-310]. The tannin is sometimes extracted and concentrated into cutch. The bark, according to some chemical analyses, appears to contain high percentages of pentosans and furfurol. The tannin of Rhizophora is associated with a substance which darkens gradually; it is used as a deep brown or black dye. The ash, after the cutch has been extracted, consists mainly of lime (18%) and calcium carbonate (70%), and can be used as a fertilizer. The wood shows a beautiful silver grain on radial section and the heartwood is dark orange-red. Its use, however, is limited because of its light weight, poor durability and small size of the trunk. Another, somewhat contradictory report says that the heartwood is of a dark red colour with dark rings of growth; and is demarcated from the bright yellow sapwood. The wood is durable, very hard, and heavy. It is, however, very brittle, and warps and cracks so easily as to unfit it for cabinet use. The wood, in this report, is said to be durable in water and under-ground, and would be suitable for foundations of bridges and wharves. A third report says thar the wood is used for heavy constructions, poles, piling, frames of houses, fish traps etc. The trees are important for producing good quality charcoal and for firewood. An excellent fuel, it is valued especially for use in baking. A great advantage of this species, in the eyes of firewood dealers, is that it can easily be split. A part of the mangrove swamps, the tree helps to protect inland areas from the effects of the ocean, including stabilizing the shore line and giving protection from strong winds and storms.

Rhizophora mucronata (loop-root mangrove, red mangrove or Asiatic mangrove) is a species of mangrove found on coasts and river banks in East Africa and the Indo-Pacific region.

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