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Avicennia marina
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Family:
AVICENNIACEAE
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Citation: Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh. in Denkschr., Akad. 71: 435. 1907; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1106(774). 1924; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 234. 1982; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 311. 1984; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 628. 1990; Anupama & Sivad., Rheedea 14: 15. 2004; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 570. 2009.
Secura marina Forssk., Fl. Aeg.-Arab. 137. 1775.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Chakkapoo, Cheru uppatti, Orei
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Gray Mangrove, Grey Avicennia
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Description:
Much branched evergreen trees to 7 m high, pneumatophores, straight, pencil like, brown; bark grey, yellowish-grey or brown, smooth, occasionally flaky; branchlets more or less 4-angled, swollen at nodes. Leaves simple, opposite, decussate, estipulate; petiole 2-8 mm long, stout, yellowish-green with a basal groove having dark or black marginal hairs continuous in a line across the node; lamina 1.8-10.2 x 1-5 cm, ovate, lanceolate, narrowly elliptic-oblong or elliptic-ovate; base cuneate; apex acute; margin entire, glabrous above, silvery white tomentose beneath, coriaceous; lateral nerves 4-7 pairs, parallel, obscure; intercostae reticulate, faint. Flowers bisexual, yellow, 5 mm long, in axillary or terminal compound spikes; peduncle to 8 cm long; flowers arranged in dense capitate units; bracts 2 x 1.5 mm, small, triangular, brownish-green, glabrous within, densely pubescent, bracteoles 2, similar to bracts, both persistent in the fruit; calyx brownish-green, sepals 5, slightly united at base, 3 x 2 mm, unequal, triangular, acute, glabrous within, densely pubescent outside, persistent; corolla yellow, glabrous within, fleshy, silvery pubescent outside, corolla tube upto 1.5 mm long, lobes 4, 2.5 x 2.5 mm, subequal, elliptic, reflexed and blackens on maturity; stamens as many as corolla lobes, filaments very short; anthers bilobed; ovary 2.5 mm long, imperfectly unilocular; ovules 4, pendulous, attached to the tip of the central 4-winged axis; style short, solid; stigma 2-lobed. Fruit a capsule, greenish, 2.5 x 1.8 cm, more or less rounded, apex acute, pericarp thick, coriaceous, silvery tomentose; seed one.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
March-July
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District(s):
Alappuzha, Kollam, Kozhikkode, Malappuram, Thrissur, Kannur, Kasaragode, Kottayam, Ernakulam
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Along backwaters and rmangrove forests
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Distribution:
Paleotropics
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Aquatic:
Yes
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Yellow, Orange
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Kumbolichira
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