MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURES OF RHIZOPHORA APICULATA BLUME. and RHIZOPHORA MUCRONATA LAM.

Kamaruddin Shamin-Shazwan,Rozilawati Shahari,Zaleha Kassim,Che Nurul Aini Che Amri,Zuhairi Ahmad

doi:10.26480/gws.01.2021.01.04

Abstract

Research on the morphological structures of R. apiculata and R. mucronata was carried out in three different regions from July to December 2018. The research aimed at observing and documenting the morphological structure of R. apiculata and R. mucronata. Samples were collected from selected locations in Peninsular Malaysia. Subsequently, samples were processed as herbarium vouchers. The vegetative and reproductive structures of both species were observed and identified. 55 morphological features were recorded and annotated as result of this research. The research revealed that vegetative and reproductive structures could differentiate R. mucronata from R. apiculata. According to this research, there were no significant differences in the morphological structures of R. apiculata and R. mucronata from three different locations. As a consequence, the data acquired in this research would be valuable for future studies on Rhizophora species.

Highlights

The mangrove forest is one of the plant ecosystems that thrive in the moist soil of tidal zones
Rhizophora is the largest genus in the Rhizophoraceae family, consisting of three main species: R. mucronata, R. stylosa and R. apiculata, as well as two hybrids species: R. x lamarckii and R. x annamalayana (Setyawan and Ulumuddin, 2012)
It was determined that morphological structures or features could be utilized to distinguish R. apiculata (Figure 1) from R. mucronata (Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

The mangrove forest is one of the plant ecosystems that thrive in the moist soil of tidal zones. A group researchers identified over 30 families of mangrove plants (Minobe et al, 2010). They acknowledged their ecological and economic values in a multitude of aspects, including timber and firewood sources, ideal habitats for diverse wildlife, biological defense from tsunami and storm, and erosion mitigation (Ong et al, 2004; Hashim et al, 2010). Rhizophoraceae is the most diverse mangrove family, consisting of four exclusive genera: Rhizophora, Bruguiera, Ceriops and Kandelia. They are classified as true mangrove species, distributed mainly in the intertidal zones (Sheue et al, 2013; Setyawan and Ulumuddin, 2012). Rhizophora is the largest genus in the Rhizophoraceae family, consisting of three main species: R. mucronata, R. stylosa and R. apiculata, as well as two hybrids species: R. x lamarckii and R. x annamalayana (Setyawan and Ulumuddin, 2012)

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Conclusion