无瓣海桑 wu ban hai sang

Columnar trees to 15(-20) m tall. Pneumatophores to 1.5 m; ultimate branchlets pendulous. Petiole 5-10 mm; leaf blade narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, gradually tapering toward apex, 5-13 × 1.5-4 cm, base attenuate, apex obtuse. Flowers 4(-6)-merous in a 3-7-flowered cyme. Floral tube 1.5-2.5 cm at anthesis, smooth; sepals green, slightly curving around base of fruit. Petals absent. Staminal filaments white. Stigma peltate, to 7 mm wide. Fruit 1-2 × 2-2.5 cm in diam. Seeds typically U-shaped or falcate, 8-9.5 mm. Fl. May-Dec, fr. Aug-Apr.

Introduced as a fast-growing tree for reforestation of mangrove communities. Guangdong (Shenzhen), Hainan [native to Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka].

This species was introduced to China in the 1980s from Sundarbans, Bangladesh, initially to Hainan and subsequently to Shenzhen.