CHAP. LX LITTORAL SWAMP-FOREST. MANGROVE 235 



fringe of vegetation, a tangle of countless brown roots more or less clothed 

 with algae. The soil, which in places is not covered with water at low tide, 

 is soft, deep, black mud, full of rotting, stinking, organic bodies in which 

 bacteria abound. The water between the trees may be covered with 

 dirty film, and bubbles of gas rising from the bottom burst at the surface. 

 Many Crustacea belonging to various genera live here, burrow in the 

 ground, bury dead leaves, and play a part similar to that played by 

 earthworms in non-saline humus soil. 1 



FLORA 



The -flora, as it consists only of about twenty-six species 2 belonging 

 to nine families, is poor in species and tolerably uniform over the extensive 

 tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World, from Africa to Australia ; 

 the closely allied American flora is still poorer, consisting of only four 

 species. The species are : 



Eastern Mangrove Western Mangrove 



Meliaceae 



Carapa moluccensis 

 obovata 



Rhizophoraceae 

 Bruguiera caryophylloides 



,, eriopetala 



,, gymnorrhiza 



,, parviflora 

 Ceriops candolleana 



roxburghiana 

 Kandelia Rheedii 

 Rhizophora conjugata Rhizophora Mangle 



mucronata 



Combretaceae 



Lumnitzera coccinea Laguncularia racemosa 



racemosa 



Lythraceae 

 Sonneratia acida 



alba 

 apetala 



Rubiaceae 

 Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea 



Myrsinaceae 

 Aegiceras majus 



Acanthaceae 

 Acanthus ilicifolius 



Verbenaceae 

 Avicennia officinalis Avicennia nitida 



var. alba tomentosa 



Palmae 

 Nipa fruticans 



Of these twenty-six species only one, Acanthus ilicifolius, is a herb, 

 the remainder being shrubs or trees. 



1 C. Keller, 1887. 



* If we reckon Avicennia officinalis var. alba as a distinct species. 



I 



