266 R. T. BAKER. 



which gradually increase in size as they differentiate into 

 the separate structures of the root. The extreme tip is 

 quite closed, nor is there any root cap as obtains in ordin- 

 ary roots as shown in text books on the anatomy of the 

 phanerogams. The tip of the aerial root found on the 

 trunks high above water mark differs from these in that it 

 has a projection as described above. 



7. The Seed. 



(a) Germination (Plate XXXV, figure 9).— The fruit 

 dropping on the ground quickly sheds its pericarp and the 

 hypocotyl soon begins to grow beyond the bunch of simple 

 hairs or blunt ending, from which roots are sent at varying 

 angles. At their earliest stages of growth they are found 

 to have sufficient power to anchor the cotyledons, as it is 

 only a matter of a short time before a miniature plant 

 appears. 



(b) Seed as a food. — The aborigines ate freely of the 

 prolific crop of fruits which they roasted before eating. 



8. The Timber. 



(a) Economics. — With such a synonymy associated with 

 this species, it is only to be expected that different accounts 

 are recorded as to the quality of its wood, in fact, varying 

 from "worthless" to "very hard and durable." 



The following will give some idea of the confusion sur- 

 rounding the timber knowledge of the species, and so 

 naturally opinions vary concerning the nature of the wood 

 of Avicennia officinalis, Linn., as shown by these extracts: 



"The wood of Mangrove, Avicennia officinalis, is white, straight 

 in the grain, tough, and elastic, but very perishable. — (The Forest 

 Flora of New Zealand, p. 270,— T. Kirk.). 



"It is very brittle; used in India for firewood. Major Ford 

 says it is used for mills for husking paddy, rice pounders, and oil 

 mills in the Andamans." — ( Dictionary of the Economic Products 

 of India, Vol. I, p. 361,— Watt.) 



