826 



Black Mangrove 



The bark is from 6 to 12 mm. thick, shallowly fissured into irregular, close 

 scales of a dark brown color; internally it is orange-red. The twigs are stout, 

 sHghtly angular and finely hair}', becoming round and gray. The leaves are 

 leather}', oblong to oblong-lanceolate 3 to 8 cm. long, blunt or shghtly pointed, 

 narrowed to the short, channelled leaf-stalk, thickened and revolute on the mar- 

 gin, somewhat hairy when unfolding, becoming dark green, smooth and often 

 shining, with a grooved midrib above, nearly white and finely hairy beneath. The 

 flowers appear at all seasons, in terminal panicles 2 to 5 cm. long, in the axils of 

 small hairy bracts; the calyx is cup-shaped, silky, its 5 lobes 3 to 4 mm. long, 

 pointed and persistent; the corolla is white, bell-shaped, shghtly irregular and 

 hairy, its tube short, nearly cyhndric, the limb spreading, i to 1.5 cm. across, its 



Fig. 754. Black Mangrove. 



4 lobes rounded; the 4 stamens are joined to the upper part of the corolla-tube j 

 anthers introrse; the ovary is sessile, i -celled, tapering into the short, 2-lobed 

 style. The fruit is an obUque, oblong or elhptic flattened capsule 3 to 5 cm. long, 

 subtended by the persistent calyx, fight green and shghtly hairy ; the seed is with- 

 out endosperm and usually germinates in the capsule. 



The wood is hard, coarse-grained and dark brown; its specific gravity is about 

 0.91. In the West Indies it is used for sills, and posts, and is very durable in 

 contact with soil. The bark is used in tanning. 



The genus contains about 3 species, widely distributed along the coasts of 

 tropical regions. The name is in commemoration of Avicenna of Bokhara (980- 

 1036), a distinguished oriental physician. The generic type is Avicennia officinalis 

 Linnaeus, of southern Asia and Australasia. 



