avicennia alba: info fact sheet, photos

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Api Api Putih (Malay)
Avicennia alba

Uses as food: The seeds are boiled and eaten, in some places, they are sold in markets as vegetables.

Other uses: This fast growing mangrove tree is among the few used in replanting mangroves to protect coastlines (the others are Sonneratia and Rhizophora). Producing a low quality firewood, it is rarely used to make charcoal and is burnt only to smoke fish or rubber.

Traditional medicinal uses: The heartwood is used to make tonics. The bark and seeds are used as a fish poison and resin used in birth control.

Role in the habitat: Avicennia alba provides food for smaller creatures. Tiny moth larvae eat the fruits (Autoba alabastrata) and flower buds (Euopoicillia sp.). Beetles eat their leaves (Monolepta sp.). For general role, see mangrove trees.

Mangrove and wetland wildlife at
Sungei Buloh Nature Park

Main features: Grows to 25m. Roots: pencil-like pneumatophores emerge above ground from long shallow underground roots. Leaves: Shiny green above, underneath white and waxy. Flowers: Small, yellow, several together , forming a cross-shaped inflorescence. Fruits: Flat capsule containing one seed. Status in Singapore: Common in mangroves on the main island and offshore islands. World distribution: Southern Asia to Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania.


Classification: Family Avicenniaceae. World 8 mangrove species.

LINKS

Direct uses of mangrove flora in Southeast Asia on the Wetlands International-Asia Pacific website: medicinal uses.
Mangrove Conservation and Development: fact sheet on Avicennia alba with lots of photos.
Plants of Guam by Philip H. Moore and Patrick D. McMakin on the University of Guam website: brief fact sheet on Avicennia alba with photo.
The uses of mangroves by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS): uses.

REFERENCES

To buy these references & others, visit
Nature's Niche

Peter K L Ng and N Sivasothi, "A Guide to the Mangroves of Singapore I: The Ecosystem and Plant Diversity", Singapore Science Centre, 1999 (p. 95-96: description, habit, photo; p. 42 uses) and "A Guide to the Mangroves of Singapore II: Animal Diversity" (p. 28-38: various insects that rely on Avicennia alba for food).
Colin Field, "Journey among Mangroves", International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems, 1995 (p. 70: medicinal use; p.116: use in replanting mangroves).
Michael Mastaller, "Mangroves: The Forgotten Forest Between Land and Sea", Tropical Press, 1997 (p. 93: as food; p: 102: other uses).

By Ria Tan, 2001