Plant of the day is: Bruguiera gymnorhiza or black mangrove
Saw some mangroves of Madagascar earlier while watching Wild Islands (dang you Netflix documentaries). Now I can get mangroves out of my head... might as well write about them.
Taxonomy, etc.: Now here is a family I don't run into every day. Rhizophoraceae. Not a very large family really. Rhizophoraceae contains 18 genera and about 142 accepted species. Members of the family have opposite or whorled leaves but NOT decussate ( as we discussed many of those mints being recently). The flowers are hermaphroditic, rarely polygamomonoecious which means having to separate sex flowers MOSTLY but occasionally a bisexual flower. Also polygamous works for that description and isn't as difficult to mush through as polygamomonoecious. Anyways, Bruguiera in particular is a genus of about six mangrove species of the Indian and west Pacific Ocean region. Named after French explorer and biologist Jean Guillaume Bruguiere (1750-1798) who traveled to the Antarctic, Persia, and Greece, and the Middle East before dying at the young age of 48. He was more of a mollusc man, but I'm sure he deserves a shout-out in plants as well. "Gymno" means naked while "rhiza" means root or "naked root" which refers to the exposed knee roots emerging from the ground (also called pneumatophores ...for a fun word).
Description: Not feeling like describing too much tonight but the genus is characterized by calyces with 8-16 lanceolate, pointed lobes, 16-32 stamens, explosive release of pollen (BOOSH!) and viviparous propagules (more on that shortly). B. gymnorhiza is a small tree up to 10m that is found on the seaward side of mangrove swamps. Bark is rough and reddish-brown. Rather than the impressive stilt roots of many other mangroves to lift them out of the water, these have relatively short prop-roots. The sepals (as you can see down below and in the top picture) are persistent and hang around as the fruit matures. That neat red color is they hypanthium or floral cup. Of particular note are the villous (shaggy) corolla (I think corolla..). Either way...neat looking. B. gymnorhiza has the largest leaves, flowers, and propagules of all Bruguiera species.
Vivipary!: So, basically propagules form still attached to the mother plant and actually start germinating right on the tree. Think of a cherry starting to turn into a cherry right on the tree, similar deal. You can see in the top most picture the plant forming new fruit. When these are fully mature they drop out of the persistent calyx like little missiles and plop down in the water/mud and settle in and start growing. Pretty cool.
Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, flower close-up; showing the hairy corollas. From Sangatta, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Range: A very far flung species to be quite honest. Found in West-Africa, Asia, Australia, and Oceania.
Culture.: Prefers 10 to 12 hours of lightin cultivation. Fairly easy really and one of the few mangrove species that can be grown indoors well. Best grown from a propagule reportedly (rather than a cutting), as the plant can establish itself to fluctuating temperatures and daylight hours. Water should be brackish with about 10 to 25 grams of iodized sea salt per liter. Neat. Also the longest lived of the mangroves and slow growing. If you're a gonna try growing a mangrove, this is a good starter.
Etc.: Used for all sorts of things, wood chips, pilings, construction, etc. The fruits ARE eaten but not preferred. I read that the skin must be removed and then it must be boiled in 4 changes of water...typically indicative of a plant that's meh to eat. Changes of water are typically used to eliminate toxins that leach out in water. Mangroves, in general are AMAZING plants that have developed a really interesting and complex way of dealing with high salinity that I just don't have time to fully explain tonight but I encourage you to look it up. They are land builders/stabilizers and are a critical part of shoreline ecosystems. You can see some really tragic effects of lack of soil stabilization from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico actually, worth a look at seeing what a mess that all caused...in case you forgot.
Very commonly spelled B. gymnorrhiza it is apparently now...B. gymnorhiza. Oye.
