Mangrove training @ Ubin on 19 dec

A super overdued post =/ haha. Ron brought us to learn how to ID mangroves when we're at Ubin a few weeks ago.

We saw an Oriental whip snake on our way there. It is able to camouflage very well among the leaves and branches. It sticks out its tongue when it is in danger or to 'taste' the air around it. This snake is midly venomous but it usually has no effect on humans.

Left: Rhizophora apiculata. Middle: Rhizophora stylosa. Right: Rhizophora mucronata.

This is the Rhizophora group which is commonly known as the bakau trees. They have prop roots to help them grow on the unstable ground.

 

Underside of the Rhizophora leaves. If you look closely at the underside of the leaves, you'll see little black dots on them.

 

Underside of Rhizophora apiculata. This species has red stipules and usually have smaller and thinner leaves as compared to Rhizophora stylosa and Rhizophora mucronata.

Rhizophora stylosa. This species has green stipules instead of red ones. They are very tolerant of salinity changes thus it is an important plant for reforestation.

 

Rhizophora mucronata. They have green or red stipules and their leaves are super fat. They also have very long and large propagules.

Sonneratia alba. These two leaves are from two different trees. Although the shape of the leaves may vary a bit, they generally have a tear-drop shape. The top and underside of the Sonneratia leaves also have similar colours.

Sonneratia ovata. They have broadly egg-shaped leaves and prefer more brackish conditions, thus it is usually found at the landward side of the mangroves.

Lumnitzera littorea. It is also known as the Teruntum Merah. This genus has small, inverted teardrop-shaped leaves. This species has red flowers which attracts sunbirds to pollinate them. The other species, lumnitzera racemosa, has white flowers instead.

This is the Avicennia group. Left: Avicennia officinalis. Middle: Avicennia alba. Right: Avicennia rumphiana.

They are commonly known as the Api-api. This is one of the main group of mangroves that can be found in Singapore. They are able to secrete salt through the salt glands in their leaves.

Avicennia officinalis. This species usually has shiny leaves with green underside and rounded tips. The veins of the leaves are not very obvious. Unlike the other Avicennia species, this has salt glands on the surface of the leaves instead of the underside.

Underside of Avicennia alba. This species is easily recognisable due to its white underside. It usually has pointed leaves too.

Fruit of Avicennia alba. They have chilli-shaped fruits.

Underside of Avicennia rumphiana. The underside of their leaves are usually brown and has a velvety feeling. They leaves are usually a bit curled up and more rounded. The veins on the leaves are also quite obvious.

This is the top and underside of Bruguiera cylindrica. This is also known as the Bakau putih. Does this leaf looks like the Rhizophora's? Although they may look similar, if you look at the underside of the leaf, this leaf does not have little black dots on them.

These are the sepals of Bruguiera cylindrica. The propagules are grown then detached from them when they're matured enough.

This is the sepals of Bruguiera gymnorhiza. It is easily identified as it is the only Bruguiera species that has red flowers.

This is the top and underside of the leaf of Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea, usually known as Chengam. They have rounded leaves and the top side is usually very glossy while the underside is usually very dull.

This is the fruit of Ceriops zippeliana. This species has intricate patterns on the calyx and the propagules have a red collar on them. However, for Ceriops tagal, they do not have patterns on the calyx and the progagules have a white collar instead of a red one.

Xylocarpus moluccensis. Xylocarpus is a minor component of the mangrove and is usually known as the Mangrove Cannonball due to the big and round fruits that it has. They also have compound leaves and the leaves of this species has pointed tips.

Xylocarpus granatum. They have compound leaves too but this species has rounded leaf tips instead of the pointed ones.

The top and underside of Heritiera littoralis, usually known as the Dungun. Some people call it the 'ultraman' plant because the fruit of this plant looks like the head of the ultraman. They usually have big elongated leaves that have a whitish underside.

Underside of Acrostichum speciosum.This species has pointed leaf tips while the other species, Acrostichum aureum, has rounded leaf tips.  This is one of the few ferns that are able to tolerate the harsh conditions in the mangrove. Like other ferns, they also have spores at the underside of their leaves to help them reproduce.

 

This is the Mangrove Tit-Berry, Allophyllus Cobbe. This plant is a trifoliate and has pointed compound leaves. They have obvious veins on their leaves too.

This is the leaf of Buta-buta or Blind-your-eyes, Excoecaria agallocha. This is a deciduous mangrove plant that does not has a specialised root system. It excludes most of its salt intake by accumulating them in the older leaves, which are dropped seasonally. This plant produces a white latex which is poisonous. It can cause blindness if it gets into someone's eyes or cause blisters on bare skin.

After the mangrove training, i think i had a better understanding of the mangroves and knew more about the mangrove plants. Thanks Ron! (: I hope i've IDed them correctly =/ I went to open the bag of leaves just now and i realised most of them are rotten already O: Haha.