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Ceriops tagal (Perr.) C.B. Rob.
Syn.: Ceriops candolliana Arn.
Rhizophoraceae
Tagal mangrove
Source: James A. Duke. 1983. Handbook of Energy Crops. unpublished.
- Uses
- Folk Medicine
- Chemistry
- Description
- Germplasm
- Distribution
- Ecology
- Cultivation
- Harvesting
- Yields and Economics
- Energy
- Biotic Factors
- References
Andamese are said to sometimes eat the fruit. Asians may use the astringent
bark or the old calyx with their betel quid (Hou, 1958). Bent branches are
used (as are the knees) for boats, the trunks for housebuilding. Regarded as
the most durable of the mangroves. (Burkill, 1966). In Indonesia the wood is
used for mine timbers and pit props. Bark used for tanning matter and as a
source of a black dye. Treating nets and sails with the bark extract is said
to preserve them from decay (C.S.I.R., 1948–1976).
Reported to be astringent and hemostat, tagal mangrove is a folk remedy for
malaria and sores (Duke and Wain, 1981). The shoot decoction, used as a
hemostat, has served as a quinine substitute (Kirtikar and Basu, 1975). The
bark is also used in lotions for malignant ulcers (C.S.I.R., 1948–1976).
Malays give the bark infusion to women in confinement with abdominal ailments.
Filipinos used the bark to cure diabetes during the Japanese occupation (Perry,
1980).
Bark contains 23–40% tannin. Leaves contain 15.45%, twig bark 25.89%, and bole
bark 41.22% tannin (C.S.I.R., 1948–1976). Twig bark may contain up to 1.77%
NaCl.
Evergreen tree 5–15(-25) m high and 20–40 cm in diameter, of ten with
unbranched stilt roots and thin knees 20–30 cm high. Bark light gray or
reddish-brown, smooth or irregularly fissured; inner bark orange or reddish.
Leaves opposite, clustered at end of twigs, obovate to elliptical, 5–10 cm
long, 2–6 cm wide, rounded and emarginate at tip, acute at base, entire, thick,
leathery, glabrous, without visible veins. Petiole 1–3.5 cm long, stipules
paired, narrow, ca 2 cm long. Cymes single and short-stalked in leaf axils.
Flowers 4–10, short stalked, ca 6 mm long. Calyx yellow-green with 5–6 narrow
pointed lobes turned back on fruit; petals 5–6, white, united at base, 2-lobed
and ending in 2–4 bristles, stamens 10–12; pistil with conical, partly inferior
3-celled ovary and short style. Berry drooping, ovoid, 1.5–2.5 cm long,
leathery. Seed 1, viviparous, becoming cigar-shaped or club-shaped, sharply
angled, 15–25(-35) cm long (Little, 1983).
Reported from the African, Australian, Hindustani, and Indonesia-Indochina
Centers of Diversity, tagal mangrove, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate
diseases, insects, pests, salt, and waterlogging (NAS, 1980; Little, 1983).
South and East Africa to Madagascar, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, India, Burma,
Andamans, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, southern China, Taiwan, through Malaysia
to Micronesia, northern Australia, and Melanesia to New Caledonia. Rare and
local in South Africa. Not widely introduced.
Estimated to range from Tropical Moist to Rain through Subtropical Moist to
Rain Forest Life Zones, tagal mangrove is estimated to tolerate annual
precipitation of 10 to 80 dm, annual temperature of 20 to 26°C, and pH of 6
to 8.5. Usually on well drained soils, within the reach of occasional tides in
the inner mangrove. Sometimes occurs under Rhizophora or Bruguiera forest, but
may form dense monospecific stands.
According to the NAS (1980a), planting is usually not needed because natural
regeneration is so successful. In Avicennia and Rhizophora, direct seeding
results in ca 90% survival.
Species of Rhizophoraceae, growing only from the tips of the branches, are
often killed by indiscriminate lopping of branches (NAS, 1980a).
Cannell (1982) cites data on a mangrove forest dominated by Rhizophora,
Ceriops, and Sonneratia, averaging 11 m tall, with an LAI of 3.7–4.2. The
stemwood and bark on a DM basis weighed 74.4 MT/ha, the prop roots 61.2 MT/ha,
the branches 15.8, the foliage 7.4, the fruits 0.3, for a total standing aerial
biomass of 157 MT/ha. The CAI (current annual increment) of stem wood, bark,
and branches was 20 MT/ha/yr , foliage 6.7, fruits 0.3. These data, taken from
a mangrove on Phuket Island, Thailand, regenerated following clear felling,
suggest annual productivity may attain 20 MT/ha/yr in Asian mangroves.
According to the data in the phytomass files (Duke, 1981b), annual productivity
of mangroves is estimated to range from 5 to 25 MT/ha. Tagal mangrove has a
very high fuel value, "certainly one of the best of firewoods" (Burkill, 1966).
With calorific value of 5,150 cals, or 9,272 Btu, the wood is used directly as
fuel, or converted to charcoal, described as excellent (C.S.I.R., 1948–1976;
Little, 1983).
No data available.
- Burkill, J.H. 1966. A dictionary of economic products of the Malay peninsula.
Art Printing Works, Kuala Lumpur. 2 vols.
- Cannell, M.G.R. 1982. World forest biomass and primary production data.
Academic Press, New York.
- C.S.I.R. (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research). 1948–1976. The wealth
of India. 11 vols. New Delhi.
- Duke, J.A. 1981b. The gene revolution. Paper 1. p. 89–150. In: Office of
Technology Assessment, Background papers for innovative biological technologies
for lesser developed countries. USGPO. Washington.
- Duke, J.A. and Wain, K.K. 1981. Medicinal plants of the world. Computer index
with more than 85,000 entries. 3 vols.
- Hou, D. 1958. Rhizophoraceae. p. 429–493. In: van Steenis, C.G.G.J. (ed.),
1955–1958, Flora Malesiana. series 1, vol. 5, P. Nordhoff Ltd., Republic of
Indonesia.
- Kirtikar, K.R. and Basu, B.D. 1975. Indian medicinal plants. 4 vols. 2nd ed.
Jayyed Press, New Delhi.
- Little, E.L. Jr. 1983. Common fuelwood crops: a handbook for their
identification. McClain Printing Co., Parsons, WV.
- N.A.S. 1980a. Firewood crops. Shrub and tree species for energy production.
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.
- Perry, L.M. 1980. Medicinal plants of east and southeast Asia. MIT Press,
Cambridge.
Complete list of references for Duke, Handbook of Energy Crops
Last update Tuesday, December 30, 1997