Rhizophora apiculata Blume
Tall Stilt Mangrove / Bakau minyak (Bru.)
Description
Traditional Medicinal Uses
Ecology
Propagation
Distribution
Precaution
Terrestrial evergreen tree of up to 30 m tall. Leaves are simple, oppositely arranged, leathery, forming a rosette at the end of twigs and abaxially covered with black corky warts which can be seen on older or dried leaves. Leaf blade is elliptical-oblong to sublanceolate, acute to apiculate at apex, cuneate at base with entire margin and pinnate venation. Stems are supported by stilt roots, and much branched. Branchlets are pithy with swollen nodes. Aerial roots sometimes emerge from the lower branches. Barks are grayish, fissured or smooth. Flowers are cross-shaped and yellowish-cream. Inflorescence a
The fruit is taken as juice and the young leaves are eaten as salad for cancer treatment. The plant is reported for its hepatoprotective, antitubercular, antioxidant, antidyslipidaemic, neurological, antidiabetic, gastrokinetic, antigout, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, wound healing and
It thrives in coastal areas, swampy areas flooded by normal high tide, and on deep soft mud of estuaries. It prefers waterlogged soils and rarely survives on hard soils under full sunlight.
Seeds and root division.
Considered a native of South and Central Asia and China.
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