Dhalasundari
Heritiera littoralis
Aquatic Plants Difficulty: Moderate Air purifying
📖 About this plant
Heritiera littoralis (looking-glass mangrove or ‘Dhalasundari’ in Odia) is a large mangrove tree of the Sterculiaceae family. The tree has distinctive leaves with silvery undersides (hence ‘looking-glass’) and produces buttress roots and pneumatophores for stability and gas exchange in waterlogged mangrove mud. Wood is hard, dark, and valuable — used for construction, boat building, and furniture. The tree is found in coastal mangrove forests of India and Southeast Asia.
🧑🌾 Care requirements
☀️
Light
Full sun
💧
Water
Brackish mangrove water
💨
Humidity
High
🌡️
Temperature
20-35°C
🪴
Soil
Mangrove mud
🧪
Fertilizer
Not required
📋 Plant facts
- 🌍 Origin
- Indo-Pacific mangroves
- 📏 Max height
- 15-25 m
- 📐 Spread
- 6-8 m
- 🕰️ Bloom time
- Spring (small white-yellow flowers)
- 🎨 Bloom color
- White-yellow
- 🍃 Foliage color
- Evergreen leathery dark green (silvery underside)
- ⏳ Lifespan
- 60+ years
- 📈 Growth rate
- Moderate
- ☠️ Toxicity
- Non-toxic
- 🌱 Propagation
- Seeds, propagules
🛡️ Health & Safety
🐾 Pet safe
✅ Non-toxic
Non-toxic
Common issues
- Habitat loss, top-dying from salinity changes
💡 Care tips
- Mangrove species — requires brackish habitat. Conservation priority.
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