Bruguiera madagascariensis Candolle; Funckia karakandel Dennstedt; Laguncularia rosea Gaudichaud-Beaupré; Lumnitzera racemosa var. pubescens Koorders & Valeton; L. rosea (Gaudichaud-Beaupré) C. Presl; Petaloma alba Blanco; P. albiflora Zippelius ex Spanoghe; P. alternifolia Roxburgh; Pokornya ettingshausenii Montrouzier; Problastes cuneifolia Reinwardt.

Shrubs or small trees, to 8 m tall; trunk to 0.3 m d.b.h. Bark brown or grayish black, coarse. Branchlets red or grayish black. Leaf blade pale green adaxially, spatulate to oblanceolate or obovate, 3.5-7 × 1-2.5 cm, apex retuse or rounded; lateral veins usually in 3 or 4 pairs. Inflorescences axillary, 2-6 cm. Flowers fragrant. Calyx tube ca. 9 mm; bracteoles ca. 1 mm; lobes deltoid, 1-2 mm, apex obtuse or shortly mucronate. Petals white, elliptic, 4.5-5 mm, apex obtuse. Stamens 5 or 10, 4-5 mm, shorter than or equaling petals. Style ca. 4 mm. Fruit blackish brown when ripe, ellipsoid or ovoid, slightly compressed on one side, 1-2 cm × 5-8 mm excluding stipe, 2- or 3-ridged, smooth proximally, longitudinally striate distally; stipe ca. 1 mm. Fl. Nov-Aug, fr. Aug-Apr.

Chinese plants belong to Lumnitzera racemosa var. racemosa , which occurs throughout the range of the species; L. racemosa var. lutea (Gaudichaud-Beaupré) Exell (Laguncularia lutea Gaudichaud-Beaupré; Lumnitzera lutea (Gaudichaud-Beaupré) C. Presl), which has yellow petals, is confined to Timor.

Open remnant mangrove forests along sea shores, estuaries, lagoon sides, saltwater swamps, swamps, swampy meadows on sandy soils. Guangdong, Guangxi (Fangcheng, Hepu), Hainan, Taiwan [Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan (Ryukyu Islands), S Korea, Malaysia, New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; E Africa (including Madagascar), N Australia, Pacific islands].