Common name: Black Mangrove, Tongwe
Bruguiera gymnorhiza (L.) Savigny APNI* Description: Small to medium-sized tree with knee-like pneumatophores, rising upright from the roots to 45 cm high. Bark gray to blackish, smooth to roughly fissured.
Leaves obovate to elliptic, 5–20 cm long, 3–9 cm wide, thick, glossy and glabrous without visible veins; petiole 2–4 cm long; stipules 2–4 cm long.
Flowers solitary, c. 3.5 cm long; pedicel 10–25 mm long. Calyx lobes, 10–14, ± linear, 20–25 mm long, thick, pink to red. Corolla 10–14 petals, c. 15 mm long, yellowish or green, turning brown, with 2 narrow lobes and bristles at the base of each petal.
Fruit 2–2.5 cm long, ovoid or turbinate; seeds 1, viviparous seedling 15–25 cm long, before falling.
Flowering: Flowers late winter to summer.
Distribution and occurrence: Grows in saline mud in estuaries, usually associated with the Grey Mangrove
NSW subdivisions: NC
Other Australian states: Qld N.T. W.A.
Text by S. M. Hastings; updated information from specimens Louisa Murray Oct 2015. Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 2 (1991)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data ***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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