''Heritiera littoralis'', commonly known as the looking-glass mangrove or tulip mangrove, is a

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

tree in the family

Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familia ...

native to coastal areas of eastern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, V ...

and northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The common name refers to the silvery appearance of the underside of the leaves, resembling a mirror to some degree. The strong timber has uses in marine applications and elsewhere.

Description

''Heritiera littoralis'' is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

tree growing up to in height with very prominent, sinuous

buttress root Buttress roots also known as plank roots are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They prevent the tree from falling over (hen ...

s that may be up to tall. It is usually low-branching and the crown is untidy-looking with gnarled branches. The trunk is light grey or grey-brown in appearance, smooth when young but developing vertical fissures as it ages. The leaves are spirally arranged on the branches and varyingly measure from up to , with a petiole up to long. They are oblong-elliptical to ovate-elliptical, dark green on the upper surface and the undersides are silvery-white to light brown due to the presence of

stellate Stellate, meaning star-shaped, may refer to: * Stellate cell * Stellate ganglion * Stellate reticulum * Stellate veins * Stellate trichomes (hairs) on plants * Stellate laceration or incision Wound#Open * Stellate fan-shaped Espalier (one form ...

scales. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are forme ...

s are axillary

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

s, and as this species is

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Monoecy is ...

, they bear both pistillate (functionally female) and

staminate The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

(functionally male) flowers on the same plant. The flowers have a fused

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla ( petals) or tepals when ...

tube with usually 5 teeth and are bell-shaped (hence the common name Tulip oak). They are greenish-pink or dull purple, around wide and long. The fruit is a flattened, ellipsoid, indehiscent, brown woody pod which is derived from the

carpel Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) '' pistils' ...

, and contains a single seed. It has a distinctive oblique keel on the uppermost side and measures up to long by wide. The fruit can float for several weeks and so is able to take advantage of tides, currents and winds to aid in its dispersal.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by the Scottish

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

William Aiton William Aiton (17312 February 1793) was a Scottish botanist. Aiton was born near Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Philip Miller, then superinten ...

in 1789, who at the time was the director of the botanical garden at Kew. The description was published in the third volume of his work ''

Hortus Kewensis ''Hortus Kewensis, or a Catalogue of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew'' by William Aiton was a 1789 catalogue of all the plant species then in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which constituted the vast majori ...

'', in which he also raised the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Heritiera''.

Subspecies

The

Global Biodiversity Information Facility The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around the ...

recognises two infraspecies, ''Heritiera littoralis'' subsp. ''littoralis'', and ''Heritiera littoralis'' subsp. ''fischeri'', while

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

does not recognise any.

Etymology

The genus name ''Heritiera'' was given in honour of the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

botanist

Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle (; 15 June 1746 – 18 August 1800) was an 18th-century French botanist and civil servant. Born into an affluent upper-class Parisian family, connections with the French Royal Court secured him the position of ...

. The species epithet ''litoralis'' means "by the sea" in reference to the habitat of this plant.

Vernacular names

Regional common names for the tree include:

Distribution and habitat

''Heritiera littoraliss natural range is eastern Africa,

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

in Australia. It grows in the landward edges of mangrove forests and along riverine forests at elevations close to sea level.

Ecology

This species is host for the larvae of a number of

lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described speci ...

ns including: ''

Arhopala micale ''Arhopala micale'', the common oakblue or shining oakblue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. The species comprises about 16 subspecies, which are found in Melanesia and New Guinea as well as the north coast of Australia (see subspecies ...

'', '' Arhopala pseudocentaurus'', '' Assara seminivale'', ''

Hymenoptychis sordida ''Hymenoptychis sordida'', the pneumatophore moth, is a moth of the family Crambidae. The species was first described by Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1852. It is known from Australia, southern and South-East Asia, several Pacific islands, Seych ...

'' and '' Synnympha perfrenis''.

Uses

The tree is harvested for timber and is valued for its toughness, durability, and resistance to saltwater. It is commonly used in shipbuilding and for pilings, bridges, wharves, furniture and housing. When sufficiently straight and high, the trunk has been used for ship's masts. The fruit of species in the genus is used in

Philippine cuisine Filipino cuisine ( fil, lutong Pilipino/pagkaing Pilipino) is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct ethnolinguistic groups found throughout the Philippine archipelago. A majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that compose Fi ...

to neutralize the fishy taste in '' kinilaw'', a local dish of raw fish in vinegar or citrus juices. Another species used this way is the fruits of the

tabon-tabon ''Atuna excelsa'' subsp. ''racemosa'', synonym ''Atuna racemosa'', is a tree in the family Chrysobalanaceae. The epithet ' is from the Latin meaning "clustered", referring to the inflorescence. The tree is widely known as tabon-tabon in the Phili ...

tree (''

Atuna racemosa ''Atuna racemosa'' is a tree in the family Chrysobalanaceae. The specific epithet ' is from the Latin meaning "clustered", referring to the inflorescence. The tree is widely known as tabon-tabon in the Philippines, where the fruits have been ...

'').

Gallery

File:Heritiera littoralis.jpg , Foliage File:Heritiera littoralis Aiton (5927447934).jpg , Flowers File:Starr 070727-7635 Heritiera littoralis.jpg , Foliage, flowers and unripe fruit File:Keeled-pod mangrove (Heritiera littoralis) leaves ruled.jpg File:Heritiera littoralis - Sakishimasuo - Iriomote island Japan.jpg , Buttress roots File:Heritiera littoralis ( Dungun ).jpg , Green fruit File:Keeled-pod mangrove (Heritiera littoralis) pods.jpg , Ripened fruit

References

External links

* *
View a map
of recorded sightings of ''Heritiera littoralis'' at the

View observations
of this species on

iNaturalist iNaturalist is a social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its website or from its mobile applic ...

See images
of ''Heritiera littoralis'' on Flickriver {{Taxonbar, from=Q2574713 littoralis Mangroves Flora of tropical Asia Flora of China Flora of Australia Flora of the Pacific Flora of Africa Taxa named by William Aiton Taxa described in 1789