atoll research bulletin no. 392 the flora of - Smithsonian Institution ...

to 3 cm long; inflorescences, small, axillary short-pedunculate, 3- to 7-flowered,
compact, cymose clusters; peduncles less than 3 mm long; pedicels, about 3 mm long,
slender; calyx, 5-sepaled, sepals acute, white to pale or dull yellow; corolla, 5-petaled,
petals hoodlike, green to yellowish-green or whitish; stamens 5, less than 1 mm long;
disc, broad, saucer-like, greenish-yellow to yellow-orange; fruit, 6 to 8 mm in diameter,
depressed-globose, 3-celled, green or brown; seeds 3 (1 per cell), nearly 5 mm long,
dark brown or black. Found in forests on plateau and on cliffs and slopes and at base of
escarpment. Rolled leaves used with flowers of other species in garlands. A traditional
source of soap in other Pacific islands, although not reportedly used for this purpose on
Nauru. 2, 3(58641), 4(113N), 5(69), 6, 7.
RHIZOPHORACEAE (Mangrove Family)
Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (L.) Lam. "brown mangrove"
etum, etam (N); te tongo, te tongo buangui (K)
syns. Rhizophora gymnorhiza L.; R. conjugata L.; Bruguiera gymnorhiza
Savigny; B. rheedii Bl.; B. eriopetala W. & Arn.; B. conjugata (L.) Merr.
Indigenous. Indopacific. Occasional. Medium tree, 3 to 15 m tall (in Nauru rarely
over 4 m), with an inconspicuously buttressed trunk, knee-like pneumatophores, dark
fissured trunk bark, and smooth-barked slightly nodose stems; leaves, 9 to 20 cm long
and 4 to 9 cm wide, opposite, elliptic-oblong, acute-acuminate at both ends, base
decurrent, thick-coriaceous, quite glabrous, somewhat glossy dark green; petioles, up to
4 cm or longer; stipules, to 3.5 cm long, linear-lanceolate, reddish, sheathing the new
leaves, caducous; inflorescences, solitary, axillary, somewhat nodding, up to 3 or 4.5 cm
across, on pedicels 1 cm long; calyx, 10- to 14-lobed, firm, glossy red to dull yellow or
yellow-green, lobes, about 1.5 cm long, slender-subulate or very narrowly-lanceolate, as
long as tube; corolla, 10- to 14-petaled, petals 3 to 5 cm long, narrowly oblong, notched
at apex, white fading to brown, each lobe bristly; stamens, many (or as few as 20), about
1 cm long; anthers, 4 to 5 mm long, linear; pollen dirty white; styles nearly 2 cm long,
pale green; fruit, 2 cm long and 1.5 cm thick, turbinate, crowned by calyx limb; seed
germinating on tree to form an elongated, somewhat extruded, cylindric radicle, reaching
15 to 25 cm long before falling. Localized in system of brackish lakes or lagoons near
base of escarpment in Meneng, Anabar and Anetan District (lake in Anabar known as
Araro); reportedly present in Buada Lagoon in the past. Strong wood excellent for house
construction; pre-germinated seed (fruit) eaten cooked, after scraping, drying in the sun
and then boiling; the Nauruan delicacy known as etum or etam, is prepared by mixing the
-gr~e~gerrmnateh~s~xithco.c~ _th-
afs~-uuUed_t~. -
prepare a black dye for traditional skirts (ridi). 2, 3(58746), 4(167N), 5(103), 6, 7.