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Heritiera littoralis
Also called Beach Tulip Oak, Looking Glass Mangrove, Looking Glass Tree, Red Mangrove, Tulip Mangrove
In Singapore: Dungun, Looking-Glass Tree, Mangrove Dungun, Keeled-Pod Mangrove, Atun Laut, Bayur Laut, Pelir Kambing, 银叶树 (Native to Singapore, Endangered)
Heritiera littoralis is a large evergreen mangrove tree from coastal areas of the Indo-Pacific and eastern Africa, valued for its strong timber. It grows along the landward edges of mangrove forests and riverbanks near sea level, so it needs tropical, salty or brackish conditions.
Heritiera littoralis, commonly known as the looking-glass mangrove or tulip mangrove, is a mangrove tree in the family Malvaceae native to coastal areas of eastern Africa, Asia, Melanesia and northern Australia. 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.
Heritiera littoralis's natural range is eastern Africa, Madagascar, India, Southeast Asia, Melanesia and the Northern Territory and Queensland in Australia. It grows in the landward edges of mangrove forests and along riverine forests at elevations close to sea level.
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.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Heritiera littoralis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
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.
