Avicennia alba
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Goa, West Bengal
- Flowering
- May-September
How to identify Avicennia alba
Identify Avicennia alba by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a tree habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Pencil-like breathing roots (pneumatophores).
- Confirm leaf arrangement: Opposite.
- Confirm leaf shape: Narrow, lance-shaped, pointed tip.
- Confirm flower colour: Yellow.
- Confirm fruit type: Capsule.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: May-September.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Avicennia alba
- Genus
- Avicennia
- Family
- Verbenaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Habitat
- Littoral forests
- Native to
- Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia
- Found in India
- Goa, West Bengal
- Flowering & fruiting
- May-September
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (LC)
Leaf characters
- Leaf arrangement
- OppositerecordedTwo leaves arise from the stem at the same point, facing each other.“The dark green leaves, 15 cm (6 in) long and 5 cm (2 in) wide, have a silvery grey underside and grow in opposite pairs.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf shape
- Narrow, lance-shaped, pointed tiprecorded
- Leaf surface
- Glaucous (waxy blue-grey bloom)recorded
Typical of the family
Characters marked “recorded” are for Avicennia alba itself; the rest are typical of the Verbenaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Yellowrecorded
- Fruit type
- CapsulerecordedA dry fruit from a fused ovary that splits open at maturity to release seeds.“The fruits are greyish-green capsules and conical in shape with an elongated beak up to 4 cm (1.6 in) long.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Drupe
Characters marked “recorded” are for Avicennia alba itself; the rest are typical of the Verbenaceae family — flowering plants only.
About Avicennia alba
Avicennia alba belongs to the Verbenaceae family, where it grows as a tree. In India it has been recorded in Goa and West Bengal. It grows in littoral forests. Flowering and fruiting run from May to September.
Uses
Locally it is grown for parts that are eaten, long used in traditional medicine and tapped for gum or resin. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Verbenaceae
Verbena/Teak family
Avicennia alba belongs to the Verbenaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Verbenaceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Avicennia alba or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.
Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides