''Avicennia officinalis'' is a species of

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

also known as Indian mangrove. The genus ''

Avicennia ''Avicennia'' is a genus of flowering plants currently placed in the bear's breeches family, Acanthaceae. It contains mangrove trees, which occur in the intertidal zones of estuarine areas and are characterized by its "pencil roots", which ar ...

'' is named after the famous Persian scientist

Ibn Sina Ibn Sina ( – 22 June 1037), commonly known in the West as Avicenna ( ), was a preeminent philosopher and physician of the Muslim world, flourishing during the Islamic Golden Age, serving in the courts of various Iranian peoples, Iranian ...

Description

The young tree forms a low, dense bushy crown. When it matures, it forms a columnar tree up to 15 m and may grow up to 30 m. The shiny green leaves, 10 cm long by 5 cm wide, have rounded apexes and golden-brown under leaf and grow in opposites. The flower, the largest among the ''Avicennia'' species has a diameter of 6 to 10 mm when expanded. It is orange yellow to lemon yellow in color. The bark is smooth, dirty green to dark gray in color. It is slightly fissured and does not flake. The fruit is green or brown, heart-shaped abruptly narrowed to a short beak, is 2.5 cm long or more.

Range and habitat

''Avicennia officinalis'' ranges from the eastern Indian Ocean to the western Pacific, along the shores of

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, and northern and eastern

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(

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, and

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). ''Avicennia officinalis'' is found sporadically on the banks of rivers and rarely found near the sea. It prefers clay soil and usually found inland.

Uses

The 1889 book ''The Useful Native Plants of Australia ''records "mangrove ''egaie'' of the Cleveland Bay aboriginals; ''tagontagon'' of the Rockhampton aboriginals, ''baa-lunn'', and ''ttchoonche'' are other aboriginal names. The fruit is heart-shaped, with two thick cotyledons. The aboriginals of Cleveland Bay dig a hole in the ground, where they light a good fire; when well ignited, they throw stones over it, which when sufficiently heated, they arrange horizontally at the bottom, and lay on the top the ''egaie'' fruit, sprinkling a little water over it; they cover it with bark, and over the whole, earth is placed to prevent the steam from evaporating too freely. During the time required for baking (about two hours), they dig another hole in the sand ; the softened ''egaie'' is put into it, they pour water twice over it, and the ''midamio'' is now fit for eating. They resort to that sort of food during the wet season when precluded from searching for any other." (Murrell's testimony,* quoted by Mens. Thozet.) In Salt-water estuaries all round the coast. * Murrell was a shipwrecked sailor, who lived for 17 years with the aboriginals of Cleveland Bay, Queensland.".

Taxonomy references

* * *

Gallery

File:Avicennia Leaves.jpg, Avicennia Leaves File:Flowers of Avicennia officinalis.jpg, Flowers of Avicennia officinalis File:Avicennia officinalis fruit.jpg, Avicennia officinalis fruit File:Mangroves at Muzhappilangad101 (6).jpg, Salt crystals on Avicennia Leaves File:Mangroves at Muzhappilangad, Kannur, Kerala 00 (5).jpg, Aerial roots of Avicennia officinalis

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q150558

officinalis ''Officinalis'', ''officinale'', or occasionally ''officinarum'' is a Medieval Latin epithet denoting organisms—mainly plants—with uses in medicine, herbalism, manufacturing, and cookery. It commonly occurs as a specific epithet, the second t ...

Mangroves Flora of tropical Asia Flora of the Central Indo-Pacific Flora of Australia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus