Rhizophora tagal Perrottet, Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 3: 138. 1824; Ceriops candolleana Arnott, nom. illeg. superfl.; C. candolleana var. sasakii Hayata; C. tagal var. australis C. T. White; C. timoriensis (Candolle) Domin; R. timoriensis Candolle.

Shrubs or trees, 2-5 m tall. Trunks with buttresses or small stilt roots. Bark brownish. Stipules lanceolate, 1-2 cm. Petiole 1-3 cm; leaf blade obovate to obovate-oblong, 4-9 × 2-5 cm, base cuneate, apex obtuse to sometimes slightly emarginate. Inflorescences 4-10-flowered; peduncle 1-2 cm. Pedicel to 2 mm. Calyx 6-7 mm, erect or slight spreading in flower, widely spreading or reflexed in fruit. Petals oblong, ca. 4 mm, margins fringed with trichomes and slightly cohering, apex with 3 club-shape terminal appendages. Stamen filaments 3-5 mm, shorter than calyx lobes; anthers less than 1 mm. Hypocotyl 15-30 cm, apex sharply pointed. Fl. autumn-winter, fr. winter.

Ceriops tagal became extinct in Taiwan in the 1950s (C.-I Peng, pers. comm.). See also comments under Bruguiera gymnorhiza.

Mangrove forests; sea level. S Guangdong, Hainan, SW Taiwan (extinct) [Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; E Africa, N Australia, Indian Ocean islands, Madagascar, New Guinea].