Common Name: Red Mangrove

General Information

Rhizophora mangle is a shrub or a small to medium-sized, round-topped, bushy tree growing 5 - 20 metres tall with occasional specimens to 30 metres. The straight bole can be free of branches for 9 - 12 metres and 20 - 70cm, occasionally to 90cm in diameter. The tree has branched, curved, and arching stilt roots 2 - 4.5 metres tall when growing in salt water[, ].
A multipurpose tree, it is used as a food in times of emergency, has medicinal properties and supplies a range of commodities. The bark, or the tannins extracted from it, are exported in quantity to America and Europe[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Coastal areas of tropical America from Brazil and Peru north through the Caribbean and Central America to Mexico and Florida.

Habitat

Mangrove swamp forests over large flat areas of silty or muddy shores in salt and brackish water. Often forms pure stands on the seaward side and forms part of mixed stands on the landward side. Usually extends father seaward than other mangroves[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	15.00 m
Growth Rate	Medium
Pollinators	Bees, Wind
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A tree of coastal areas in the tropics, moving into the subtropics. It grows best in areas where the mean annual rainfall is within the range 20 - 30°c, but can tolerate 10 - 38°c[]. Plants can be killed if the temperature falls below zero[]. The plant prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 2,500mm, tolerating 1,000 - 3,000mm, and growing in areas with a distinct dry season, as well as one where rain can fall all year round[]. Plants are found in areas with an annual rainfall of up to 10,000mm[].
Grows best in a sunny position[]. Succeeds in most soils, grows in areas that are subject to periodic inundation by sea water[, ]. Very tolerant of saline soils[]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.7 - 7.2, tolerating 6.5 - 7.5[].
The tree is capable of moderately fast growth of 1 - 1.5 metres per year on productive sites[].
Young trees can begin flowering by 6 years of age, and possibly as young as 3 - 5 years[]. Flowering has been reported in saplings as small as 0.5 - 1 metre[].
Plants can flower all year round[].
The method of propagation in nature is peculiar. While still attached to the tree, the seed develops a radicle about twice as thick as a lead pencil and 30 - 60cm long, which when detached falls like a dart and sticks upright in the mud, ready to put forth leaves and roots[]. If the seeds are carried away by currents they float upright until they reach a lodging place[].

Edible Uses

Fruit[]. Somewhat bitter, but wholesome[]. The fruit, or perhaps the radicles were sometimes eaten by native people when they could find no better[].

The dried leaves make a most agreeable substitute for tea[]. It is rich in tannin so should only be drunk in moderation[].

Roots - cooked. Used as an emergency food when nothing better is available[].

The inner portion of the green sprout from the seed (hypocotyl) is used as an emergency food when nothing better is available[].

Medicinal

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[].

Agroforestry Uses:

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[].

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[].

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[].

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