Freshwater Mangrove / Corkwood
Origin of name
Family: RHIZOPHORACEAE
- Carallia derived from Indian/Malay for the plant.
- brachiata meaning “with branching“
Occurrence
A local species. Grows in coastal vine thickets, rainforest, dry rainforest, gallery forest & rainforest around swamps.
Grows well in full sun when mature, but young plants prefer some shade. Tolerant of wet soils and even standing water. Tolerates salt spray and saline soils. Listed as ‘Tolerant of strong winds’ in cyclones.
Appearance
Can reach 20m under ideal conditions, but usually a small/medium tree (5-10m) with wide-spreading branches. Height varies with growing conditions. Clusters of small, cream- green flowers lead to small, red berries.
Fruit is bush tucker. Caterpillars of Four O’clock Moth feed on leaves. Birds like Pied Imperial Pigeons eat fruit. Large trees harvested for timber in some countries.
