Let's know more about 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐬 this #WorldMangroveDay2020. For coming one week, I shall be sharing about these unique plants.

@ParveenKaswan @deespeak @susantananda3 @RandeepHooda @narendramodi @LicypriyaK @ZebaZoariahAhsa

𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐈

Name says it all, its a beautiful tall tree. Name “Sunderbans”is said to be derived from this.

Its beautiful small bell shaped flowers have cream colored petals which are reddish inside.

Bears roundish thin woody fruit with ridges along length&breadth.

𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐉𝐀𝐍

Home to tigers, its name is apt which means “roar”.

Also known as mangrove on stilts. Long umbrella shaped stilt roots provide a broad solid base helping keep it stable even in loose sand.

Aerial “knee roots” help entire underground root system breathe.

𝐆𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐀

A medium sized bushy tree with rough skinned main stem.

Leaf turns reddish-orange in colour with maturity.

Stem exudes white colored alkaloid if punctured or if leaves are torn. This poisonous latex is harmful for both human eyes and skin.

𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐎 𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐍

As name suggests, it has a blackish coloured tree trunk.

It is one of the very few dominant and salt-tolerant species, which acts as a natural bio-shield against rising salinity and sea levels.

Flower is yellow in color with four petals.

𝐏𝐄𝐘𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐍

It’s name is apt as its trunk has got unique whitish patches similar to that of guava (peyara in Bengali) tree.

Leaf is the broadest among its family species (Avicennia) found in Sunderbans.

Petals have outer white side and yellow inner side.

𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐉𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐍

Word “Karanja” is found in ancient Buddhist & Hindu texts, where it is name of a tree used in medicinal preparations.

Similarly, everything of Karanja Bain, from its bark to egg-shaped fruits have found extensive use in traditional medicine.

𝐓𝐎𝐊 𝐊𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐀

Tok in Bengali means “sour”. Since fruits of Tok Keora are rich in Vitamin C, hence it is named this.

Thick leaves hang downwards and have same color both sides (upper, under).

Calyx of flower is star shaped, hard, green, and four in number.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐊 𝐊𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐀

Chak in Bengali means “wheel”. Its edible fruit looks like wheel from top which is roundish in shape while being tapered in the middle.

Fruit is cooked and used as condiment to flavor curries.

Fermented fruit juice relieves bleeding/haemorrhage.

𝐊𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐑𝐀

Kankra in Bengali means “crab”. Red bell-shaped calyx of flower is divided into number of strips which resemble to the legs of crab.

Small orange petals of flower almost remain invisible as they remain within the calyx.

Robust in nature, adapts well.

𝐁𝐎𝐊𝐔𝐋 𝐊𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐑𝐀

Bokul in Bengali means “bud”. Though similar in shape to that of Kankra, its flowers are very small in size. Even when full grown, appears like a bud.

Calyx is yellowish green and petals are butter yellow in color.

𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐍

Math,in Bengal, is place of worship. It is also known for their unique Bengal roof architecture.These mangroves resemble Math in shape.

It develops profusely branched root system.

Main stem flattens near the ground which appears like buttresses.

𝐉𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐓𝐈 𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐍

Jhamti may have been derived from Hindi word jamat meaning “group”. They grow in cluster & give an appearance that young trees are growing together, though in reality they are matured.

Fruits and flowers are pretty similar to that of Math Goran.

𝐃𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐇𝐔𝐋

Dhundhul is also known as “cannon ball” tree as it bears big round shaped fruits which turns woody and reddish brown when matured.

It is known for its best quality timber used for making furniture, umbrella handle, flower vase, and carvings.

𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐔𝐑

Pashur in Bengali translates to “animals”. Also, its a name of river in Sunderbans region of Bangladesh. So, the name of mangrove may have association with any of these.

Looks similar to Dhundhul tree but can be distinguished by the color of leaf.

𝐊𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐒𝐈

Also called Black mangrove, River mangrove, & Goat's horn mangrove.

Also, Khalsi (Bengali) translates to “redemption”. This may have association with toxic chemical saponin found in tree which is used in fisheries to clear out unwanted fishes & crabs.

𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐀

Tora, in Bengali, translates to “star”. Since this mangrove bears white, small, star-shaped flowers; it might have been named Tora.

Its shining leaves have high density of salt glands. Therefore, dried leaves were used to prepare table salts.

𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋

Hental is derived from a Sanskrit word Hintāla meaning “marshland date palm” where Hin stands for short (palm) and tāla for marsh. It is also known as Sea Dates.

It is also called Tiger palm as it provides Big cats perfect camouflage.

#WorldTigerDay2020

𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐀

Golpata is named so as it has Pata (leaf in Hindi) very similar to that of Gola (coconut in Hindi) tree.

Though called “Mangrove Palm”, it is only moderately salt tolerant and prefers brackish waters of estuaries.

𝐊𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐀𝐋

This “white flowered black mangrove” is a pretty plant having spoon shaped leaves.

It develops pneumatophores and often has stilt roots.

Its woody fruit contains only one seed.

𝐇𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈

Commonly known as Indian tulip tree is able to grow in wide range of soil types present in coastal environments.

It is also known as “Aden Apple tree” as flowers are followed by apple-shaped fruit.

𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐘𝐀 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐊

Shak in Bengali refers to green leafy vegetable called spinach. Similarly Giriya Shak is consumed as a green leafy vegetable.

Generally donot grow more than one and half feet in height.

𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐀 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐊

As its name suggests, nona shak, is consumed as green leafy vegetable.

Due to its high salt content, it is also used as a seasoning with other foods.

𝐇𝐔𝐃𝐎

Only mangrove terrestrial fern is commonly known as “Golden Leather Fern” owingto its matured reddish aand dark brown elongated leaves.

Grows in upper reaches of tidal zone, perticularly, from where tidal water has retreated.

𝐃𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐈 𝐆𝐇𝐀𝐒

Dhani Ghas is named so as this grass (ghas) belongs to the paddy (dhani) family.

A pioneer species of mangrove excretes salt crystals through its leaves.

Roots are preferred food of wild boars and even rhesus monkey.

𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐌𝐈 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐀

Kalam refers to “stem” and Lata means “creeper”, therefore, name suggests that it is a creeper with a woody stem.

It has beautiful flowers which are bell-shaped and face towards the sky. They are deep magenta colored inside and pink outside.

𝐉𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆

Palong translates to “spinach” or “vegetable”. Since its taken as food by local people, this creeping herb, is named so.

Its 5-petals star-shaped pink flowers look beautiful.

𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀

Manda seems to be derived from Sanskrit word which roughly translates to slow, tardy,sick,bad something that can be associated with parasites.

Remains almost fully camouflaged within the main tree except at the time of flowering.

𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀

Boro means “big” in Bengali. Since, its leaves are bigger than Manda; it is named so.

Red and yellow flowers make the plant visible during flowering season, otherwise it remains well camouflaged within the main tree.

𝐒𝐔𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐎𝐋𝐀

Suto in Bengali means “thread” whereas Shaola means “algae”. This algae is named so as it looks like green thread floating in water.

𝐒𝐎𝐁𝐔𝐉 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐎𝐋𝐀

Sobuj means “green” in Bengali. Since this algae is green in color, it is called so.

𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐉𝐇𝐀𝐔/𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐉𝐇𝐀𝐔

Commonly known as Indian Tamarisk is called “jhau” in Hindi and Bengali.

Its flowers are borne on long and slender racemes.

𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐎𝐉𝐀

Its leaves and flowers are quite different in shape.

Leaves are bright green, thorny, and twisted horizontally.

Horgoja is known for its beautiful bright purple flowers.

𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐘𝐎𝐔

I request you to share this thread esp with school & college going students. It's important that they know about these beautiful ecosystems irrespective of their streams, take interest & think of pursuing higher studies & research in this unexplored domain.