331 
and telegraph-poles, furniture and ae It is suitable 
for heavy structural work. 
Other species of Sonneratia are found in the region; but, 
the two already mentioned seem the most important ones. 
Fam. RHIZOPHORACEAE. 
This is the family of the true mangrove and the one which 
gives its name to the swamp. The real importance of this family 
is but little understood; and, for all its wide distribution, the 
group is very incompletely known botanically. The evident dis- 
comforts attendant upon work in the mangrove swamp, seem 
to have been sufficient to discourage most people from investi- 
gating it. The members of this family make up, by far, the 
greatest part of the true mangrove-swamp formation. They 
form stands of exceedingly even development. Their reproduc- 
tion is copious and they will form fruits at a very early age. 
In consequence of this fact, ‘a number of botanists have des- 
cribed different ones of these species as low shrubs. Every spe- 
cies of the Rhizophoraceae of the swamp is a tree species, 
i.e, it will form a tree, if the conditions of growth are favo- 
rable to it. The family probably reaches its highest develop- 
ment in Borneo, as does the whole mangrove-swamp formation. 
Rhizophora mucronata Lam. Bacauan (Philippines), Bako, 
Bakau korap (Malay). 
From East Africa to Japan, Australia and the islands of 
the Pacific. 
This is the Rhizophora which grows farthest out toward the 
edge of the swamp. Its seedlings are longer (sometimes up to 
1 m. in length) sharp pointed and lenticel-roughened and it 
can therefore grow in deeper water than the other species. It 
is the commoner species on the Malay Peninsula and I have 
often found it fruiting more abundantly and occurring in grea- 
ter number of individuals than the other species in Borneo. It 
is distinct from the other species by its more straggling habit 
and by its conspicuous white flowers. 
