:Lumnitzera racemosa

{{distinguish|text = Avicennia germinans, which may also be known as black mangrove}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Lumnitzera racemosa (flowering) - Kung Krabaen, Chantaburi province, Thailand.JPG

| status = NT

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Ellison, J. |author2=Koedam, N.E. |author3=Wang, Y. |author4=Primavera, J. |author5=Jin Eong, O. |author6=Wan-Hong Yong, J. |author7=Ngoc Nam, V. |date=2010 |title=Lumnitzera racemosa |volume=2010 |page=e.T178846A7625290 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-2.RLTS.T178846A7625290.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}

| genus = Lumnitzera

| species = racemosa

| authority = Willd., Neue Schriften Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin iv. (1803) 187{{cite web |title=Lumnitzera racemosa Willd., Neue Schriften Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin iv. (1803) 187. |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/170681-1 |website=International Plant Name Index (IPNI) |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=23 April 2020}}

| synonyms = {{collapsible list|

Bruguiera madagascariensis DC.
B. obtusa Steud.
Funckia karakandel Dennst.
Jussiaea racemosa Rottler ex DC.
Laguncularia rosea Gaudich.
Petaloma alba Blanco
P albiflora Zipp. ex Span.
P. alternifolia Roxb.
Pokornya ettingshausenii Montrouz.
Problastes cuneifolia Reinw.
Rhizophora obtusa Dennst.

}}

Lumnitzera racemosa, commonly known as the white-flowered black mangrove,{{cite web |url=https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=LURA3 |title=Lumnitzera racemosa Willd.: white-flowered black mangrove |publisher=USDA |access-date=18 August 2019}} is a species of mangrove in the family Combretaceae.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2338861|title=Lumnitzera racemosa Willd. — The Plant List|website=www.theplantlist.org |access-date=11 July 2019}} It is found on the eastern coast of Africa and other places in the western Indo-Pacific region.{{cite book|title=The World's Mangroves, 1980-2005: A Thematic Study in the Framework of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLdlpOiuSmEC&pg=PA15 |year=2007 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|isbn=978-92-5-105856-5 |pages=15–17}} It has one accepted variety from the noniminate species which is Lumnitzera racemosa var. lutea (Gaudich.) Exell.{{cite web |title=Lumnitzera racemosa var. lutea (Gaudich.) Exell |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:106166-3 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=23 April 2020}}{{cite web |title=Lumnitzera racemosa var. lutea (Gaudich.) Exell, Flora Malesiana ser. I (1951). |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/106166-3 |website=International Plant Name Index (IPNI) |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=23 April 2020}}

Description

Lumnitzera racemosa is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree, growing to a maximum height of {{convert|37|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. It develops pneumatophores and often has stilt roots. The leaves are arranged spirally at the tips of the shoots; they are simple and obovate, with slightly toothed margins. The inflorescences grow in short spikes in the axils of the leaves or at the tips of the shoots. The flowers are small and white, and are followed by woody, flattened fruits containing a single seed.{{cite web |url=https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/dna/organisms/details/217 |title=Lumnitzera racemosa Willd. |publisher=Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum |access-date=11 July 2019}}

Distribution and habitat

This species is native from KwaZulu-Natal to southeast Kenya in the western Indian Ocean, tropical & subtropical Asia to the western Pacific.{{cite web |title=Lumnitzera racemosa Willd. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:170681-1 |website=Plants of the World Online (POWO) |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=23 April 2020}} Its range includes KwaZulu-Natal, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Aldabra, Seychelles, Chagos Archipelago, Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, southeast China, Hainan, Taiwan, Nansei-shoto, Korea, South China Sea, Philippines, Peninsular Malaysia, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Islands, New Guinea, and New Caledonia. In Mozambique it is one of only ten mangrove species.{{cite book|title=The World's Mangroves, 1980-2005: A Thematic Study in the Framework of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLdlpOiuSmEC&pg=PA15 |year=2007 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|isbn=978-92-5-105856-5 |pages=15–17}} It grows in the higher part of the intertidal zone and is found both on beaches and lining the banks of creeks. It is a fast-growing, pioneering species.

Uses

The timber of Lumnitzera racemosa is strong and durable and has many uses, including bridge construction.{{cite book |last1=Pauline Dy Phon |title=Plants Used In Cambodia/Plantes utilisées au Cambodge |date=2000 |publisher=Imprimerie Olympic |location=Phnom Penh|page=410 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=InD2RAAACAAJ|author1-link=Pauline Dy Phon }} The wood is highly favoured for charcoal making in Cambodia. The bark is harvested for the tannins it contains.{{cite web |url=http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Lumnitzera+racemosa |title=Lumnitzera racemosa |author=Fern, Ken |date=13 June 2019 |work=Useful Tropical Plants Database |access-date=12 July 2019}}

Status

Mangroves in general are under threat from coastal development, and this species, which grows on the landward edge of the mangrove area, may be more threatened by rising sea levels than are other species because it may be unable to move further inland. There may be a decline in populations of this species due to habitat loss or harvesting, but it is a common species of mangrove with a very wide range, and is not declining at a sufficient rate to be included in any threatened category, so it is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of "least concern".

The variety of racemosa, also known as Tonga mangrove ({{langx|af|Tonga-wortelboom}}, {{langx|zu|Isikhaha-esibomvu}}), is a protected tree in South Africa.{{cite web

|url=http://www2.dwaf.gov.za/dwaf/cmsdocs/4116___poster%20protected%20trees.pdf

|title=Protected Trees

|date=3 May 2013

|publisher=Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Republic of South Africa

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705085122/http://www2.dwaf.gov.za/dwaf/cmsdocs/4116___poster%20protected%20trees.pdf

|archive-date=5 July 2010

}}