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Family:
Rhizophoraceae (mangrove family) Life
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Archaeoplastida >
Chloroplastida
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Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants)
> Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants)
> Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering
plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Rosids >
Eurosid I > Order: Malpighiales
About 16 genera and 120 species worldwide (tropics and
subtropics of Africa, Asia and America), of which four genera and eight species
are indigenous in southern Africa. One of the genera, Cassipourea, does
not occur in mangrove forests but occurs in other types of forests and woodland.
Besides the genera in the Rhizophoraceae that occur in mangrove forests (Bruuiera,
Ceriops and Rhizophora), the following genera from other
families occur in this unique habitat: Xylocarpus (Meliaceae),
Heritiera (Sterculiaceae), Sonneratia (Sonneratiaceae),
Barringtonia (Lecythidaceae),
Lumnitzera (Combretaceae) and
Avicennia (Avicenniaceae).
Genera native in southern Africa
List from Bredenkamp (2000).
Bruguiera
Six species (Africa to Asia and Australia), of which one,
Bruguiera gymnorrhiza occurs in southern Africa (KwaZulu-Natal and
Eastern Cape coasts). |
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Cassipourea
About 70 species (mainly tropical and southern Africa,
also tropical America and India), of which five species occur in southern
Africa. None are mangrove forest species.
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Ceriops
Two species (mud banks in tropical coastal areas from
East Africa to East Indies and N Australia), of which one species,
Ceriops tagal, occurs in southern Africa (KwaZulu-Natal coast).
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Rhizophora
About eight species (along tropical shores of Africa,
Asia and America), of which one, Rhizophora mucronata, along the
coast of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape.
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Publications
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Bredenkamp, C.L. 2000. Rhizophoraceae. In: Seed Plants of
Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). Strelitzia 10: 468-469.
National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
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Coates Palgrave, K. (edited Coates Palgrave,
M.) 2002. Trees of Southern Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape
Town.
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