Rhizophora racemosa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rhizophora racemosa | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Rhizophoraceae |
| Genus: | Rhizophora |
| Species: | R. racemosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Rhizophora racemosa | |
Rhizophora racemosa is a species of mangrove tree in the family Rhizophoraceae. It has a patchy distribution on the Pacific coast of Central and South America, occurs in places on the Atlantic coast of that continent, and has a more widespread range on the Atlantic coast of West Africa.[1]
Members of the genus Rhizophora are very similar to each other in morphology. They grow up to 30 m (100 ft) tall often with aerial stilt roots, but in more marginal habitats are shorter, more branched and scrubby. The leaves grow in opposite pairs, each pair with two interlocking stipules. The leaves are simple and entire, with elliptical hairless blades and slightly down-rolled margins. The lower surfaces have numerous tiny corky warts which appear as black spots on dried leaves.[2]
At one time considered to be a subspecies of Rhizophora mangle, R. racemosa is now accepted as a full species, most easily distinguished by the fact that the stem of the axillary flowers branches up to six times, making a maximum cluster size of 128. However, the inflorescences more usually contain 32 to 64 flowers. Other distinguishing characteristics include thick, short rounded bracteoles and rounded flower buds.[2]
