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Sonneratia have thick cone-shaped pneumatophores. They use
ultrafiltration at the root level to exclude salt. Sonneratia alba
can tolerate wide fluctuations in salinity and often grow on
exposed, soft but stable mudbanks low on the tidal mudflats. It is
believed that they store excess salt in old leaves which they later
Uses as food: Leaves may be eaten raw or cooked. The ripe fruit are
eaten by people from Africa to the Malays and Javanese, and are said
to taste like cheese.
The heavy timber is resistant to shipworm and pests and is used for
building boats, piling and posts for bridges and houses. However,
the wood corrodes metal, probably because of the timber's high
mineral content. The pneumatophores are made into floats for fishing
nets.
Medical use:
Reported to be hemostat, crabapple mangrove is a folk remedy for
sprains, swellings, and worms. Burmese use the fruits for poultices,
Indochinese poultice crushed leaves with salt onto cuts and bruises.
Malayans use old fruit walls for worms, half-ripe fruits for coughs,
and pounded leaves for hematuria and smallpox |
