68 The Mangrove and its Allies. 



rough salt is extracted in Borneo from the aerial roots, and 

 the wood is considered the best firewood of any produced in 

 the island. The bark is well known as a tanning bark, for 

 which purpose it is much valued ; indeed, it has been said to 

 equal, if not to excel, oak bark in the quantity of tannin 

 which it contains. It is also used for dj^eing, producing, in 

 conjunction -with mineral salts, olive, brown, and slate colours. 



It is not the bark alone that contains tannin, but all parts 

 of the plant. The leaves and roots of some of the species are 

 used in the Mauritius and the West Indies for poultices ; and 

 in the last-named islands, as well as in the Phillipines, the bark 

 is considered a good febrifuge. There are four or five species 

 of RMzplwra known. 



Ceriops stands next to Rliizoplwra in scientific classifica- 

 tion. Two or three species are described, natives of Eastern 

 Africa, Asia, Australia, and Polynesia. One of the distinctive 

 characters of this genus is the five parted persistent calyx ; 

 the petals, also in fives, are pubescent or hairy at their points ; 

 and the ten stamens are seated two to°;ether in front of the 

 petals. The bottom part of the ovary has three cells, each cell 

 containing*two ovules, the upper part of the ovary terminating 

 in a long style, and the seed germinates before leaving the tree 

 in a similar manner to that of Rliizoplwra. 



Kandelia is a genus of which but one species is known, 

 namely, Kandelia Rlieedii, W. et A. It is a native of the East 

 Indian Islands. The parts of the flowers of this, like the last- 

 named genus, are in fives, but it is distinguished chiefly by the 

 petals being divided and sub-divided into numerous fine divi- 

 sions, and seated in a fleshy rim or disk, which lines the calyx 

 tube. The stamens are indefinite, the filaments very fine, and 

 the anthers small and oblono-. The flowers are white and 



o 



green ; the fruit is ovoid, coriaceous, one-celled, and one- 

 seeded, germinating on the trees as in Rliizoplwra. The 

 bark of this tree, mixed with ginger or long pepper, and rose- 

 water, is a reputed medicine among the native practitioners in 

 India for the cure of diabetes. 



Brugueira is a genus having six or eight species, natives of 

 Eastern Africa, Australia, and the Polynesian Islands. They 

 are trees frequenting the shores of rivers and muddy swamps, 

 and are known from the preceding genera by the numerous 

 lobes or limbs of the calyx, varying from eight to about four- 

 teen, which a >re to the ovary below, thus making the calyx 

 superior, or seated above the fruit, and standing up in a whorl 

 round the radicle. From this arrangement of the sepals, the 

 radicle might easily be mistaken for an elongated fruit. The 

 petals agree in number with the sepals ; they are coriaceous, 

 and woolly at the edges, and cleft or divided in two parts. 



