Lumnitzera Willd.

Scientific Description

Common name. Mangroves. Family Combretaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Trees, or shrubs. Plants leaves succulent. Mesophytic to xerophytic, or helophytic. Leaves alternate; spiral; petiolate, or subsessile, or sessile; non-sheathing; gland-dotted, or not gland-dotted; simple. Leaf blades entire; elliptic, or obovate; pinnately veined; cross-venulate; attenuate at the base, or cuneate at the base. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire, or crenate (due to presence of glands). Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Leaf anatomy. Hydathodes present (occasionally), or absent. Hairs present, or absent. Roots. Aerial roots present.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite. Plants viviparous, or not viviparous.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in racemes, or in spikes. The terminal inflorescence unit racemose. Inflorescences terminal, or axillary; flowers in short terminal or axillary spikes or racemes. Flowers pedicellate, or sessile; bracteate; (bi-) bracteolate. Bracteoles persistent. Bracteoles adnate to the receptacle. Flowers small; regular; 3–8 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic, or pentacyclic. Free hypanthium present. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 4–5, or 9–10(–16); 1 -whorled, or 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx present; 5; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous; blunt-lobed; imbricate, or valvate (or very small); tubular; regular; persistent. Corolla present; 5; 1 -whorled; polypetalous; when present, imbricate, or valvate; regular; white, or yellow, or red. Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 5–10. Androecial members free of the perianth; all equal; free of one another; 2 -whorled, or 1 -whorled, or 3 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5–10; all more or less similar in shape; isomerous with the perianth, or diplostemonous, or polystemonous; oppositisepalous. Anthers dorsifixed; versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; tetrasporangiate. Gynoecium 2–5 carpelled. The pistil 1 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious, or eu-syncarpous; inferior. Ovary unilocular; 1 locular. Epigynous disk present. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1. Placentation apical. Ovules in the single cavity 2–5; pendulous; non-arillate; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit fleshy, or non-fleshy; indehiscent; a drupe. Seeds non-endospermic. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 1, or 2, or 3.

Special features. Mangroves.

Etymology. After Stephan Lumnitzer (1750–1806), German botanist.