BD - : The Vegetation of the Sea-coast. 
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The leaves are ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 5—ıo cm long, thick, coriaceous, 
dark-green, rather glossy and with yellow midribs and veins. Beneath they 
are covered with hoary pubescence. They are frequently placed more or less. 
vertically. The roots extend for a great distance laterally and this is empha- 
sised by the hundreds of erect branches, (pneumatophores), which project out 
ofthe muddy substratum. These erect roots are from 20—30 cm long on an 
average; they are straight and taper from the base upwards to a blunt apex. 
The inflorescence consists of small heads of 5—8 flowers each about 8 mm 
in diam. The fruit, which is ready to fall by the beginning of January, con- 
‚sists of a capsule some 4.2 cm long by 2.8cm broad and ı cm thick; the 
pericarp is brown and leathery but thin enough for the penetration of süffı- 
cient light for the formation of chlorophyli. The embryo, which has no resting- 
_ period, emerges early from the seed-coat, so that by the time the fruit is 
ripe, it completely fills the cavity. At this stage, the embryo consists of the 
two thick, fleshy cotyledons folded longitudinally, the outer, which is dark- 
green on its upper surface tightly enclosing the inner, and the hypocotyl 
' which is about 10 mm long slightly projecting, while the much shorter epi- 
cotyl, which has two pale rudimentary leaves, is pressed close beneath the. 
folded cotyledons. Already the hypocotyl possesses root-rudiments in the shape 
of small knobs surrounding the swollen apex, while above there is a ring of 
brownish hairs which project upwards. After falling from the tree the embryo 
continuing to increase in size splits the pericarp along its suture, and first one 
‚half and then the other being shed, the green embryo, its cotyledons still 
tightly folded and the blunt apex of the hypocotyl projecting, lies on its side 
in the mud, and may be washed hither and thither by the tide. As time 
goes on, the cotyledons open out by slow degrees, the hypocotyl lengthens 
and when it is about 2 cm long and the outer cotyledon is quite raised from 
the inner the roots are obliquely penetrating the substratum and firmly anchoring 
the plantlet. Growth now proceeds rapidly, especially that of the roots, but. 
itisa  considerable time before the cotyledons become fully flattened 
in fact the ‚plant depends upon their reserve material and chlorophyl! for 
very considerable period. Thus a young plant with its hypocotyl 45 
long, its epicotyl 3 cm long. ‚and the. Arst two foliage-leaves 2.5 by 1.5 
'has the laminae of the cotyle nsiderat iy folded. Pneumatophores 
appear quite early, so that a root 50 cm long arising from : a a 1 
‚high, a have two of them: each about ı4 cm long. 
Be 4. offieinalis i is abundant as a mangrove in many tesa: countries. > 
>. New Zealand it is confined to the ION botanical ge “ 
1. rzmocanpıs laevigata E Forst.  rmwanpa); Karaka (Maori) Kıpi (lo n 
