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Bruguiera gymnorhiza
Also called Kankra
Bruguiera gymnorhiza, the large-leafed orange mangrove or oriental mangrove, is a mangrove tree that grows usually to 7–20 metres (23–66 ft) high, but sometimes up to 35 m (115 ft), that belongs to the family Rhizophoraceae. It is found on the seaward side of mangrove swamps, often in the company of Rhizophora. It grows from the Western Pacific across Indian Ocean coasts to Cape Province, South Africa.
The tree is found as a native on the coasts of places bordering the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, and parts of the western Pacific Ocean. Regions that it is native to include: Caroline Island, Samoa, Tonga, Wallis and Futuna, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Gilbert Islands, Nauru, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Queensland, New Guinea, Northern Territory, Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, Nansei-shoto, Borneo, Jawa, Hainan, Christmas Island, Southeast China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nicobar Islands, Andaman Islands, India (including Andhra Pradesh), Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius, Madagascar, Aldabra, Seychelles, Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, Mozambique Channel Islands, Tanzania, Mozambique, KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Provinces.
A major use of the tree is for wood products. Its uses in agroforestry include a woodlot, mulch/organic matter production, soil stabilization, coastal protection, windbreak, wildlife/marine food and habitat and bee forage. The wood is widely used, including for firewood, building construction (including structural components such as poles, beams and rafters), canoe parts, fishingstakes, spears, copra-huskers, chips for pulp production, tool handles and digging sticks. In the Andaman Islands, the trunks have been used for telephone and transmission poles, it seems rot-resistant (i.e. durable in direct contact with the ground). The wood has a high calorific values, and is used as fuel on some Pacific Islands (e.g. Kosrae), and for charcoal production in Indonesia, and Cambodia. In the Marshall Islands, it has been used for keel-pieces (maal), outrigger (kie), and outrigger struts (kein-eon erre). Paddles are also made from the wood on some islands.
Bakau Putih · Ribbed fruited orange mangrove · Bruguiera × hainesii · Smallflower bruguiera · Oriental mangrove · Bruguiera
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Bruguiera gymnorhiza by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
