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Fire in the Mangrove


Fire in the Mangrove
Photo Information
Copyright: Foozi Saad (foozi) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2791 W: 0 N: 6696] (25839)
Genre: Plants
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2010-12-26
Categories: River
Camera: Nikon D90, Nikkor 18-135mm
Exposure: f/7.1, 1/320 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2011-01-05 4:27
Viewed: 3383
Points: 60
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Mangrove Fern
Acrostichum spp.
Piai Raya/Laut (Malay)

When I visited the mangrove at the Kuala Gula Bird Sanctuary , I could see many of these fern shoot from the distance. they look like a fire in the middle of the green surroundings.
Quite exciting to appreciate them especially when the sunlight gives a good backlighting.

These ferns are among the few that can tolerate saline soil and grows in the back mangroves. But they cannot tolerate flooding. Besides brackish water, it also grows in freshwater swamps and marshes.

Two species are commonly seen .
A. aureum has rounded leaf tips while A. speciosum has pointed leaf tips.
The young leaves are reddish. When older fronds become fertile, the underside of the leaflets at the tip becomes covered with red-brown sporangia.

Uses: The young shoots can be eaten raw as a salad or cooked (Malay, India, Sri Lanka). The leaves are also used as cattle feed. Older leaves when dried are parchment-like and used as fire-resistant roof thatch (Vietnam and the Pacific). The fibres of old leaves may also be used to make cord.

Traditional medicinal uses: Rhizomes are pounded into a paste and used to treat wounds and boils (Malay). Leaves are used to stop bleeding.

Role in the habitat: Among the first large low-growing plants to grow on the landward side of the mangrove, the fern provides shade for other plants and trees to take root. But on cleared mangroves, it can form impenetrable thickets which prevents other plants from taking root. Thus it is often considered a weed. For animals, these thickets provide safety and shelter. Birds such as the Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) make their nests in these thickets.

LINKS
• Field Guide to the Mangroves of Queensland: Fabulous page on Acrostichum speciosum with diagrams, location and distribution map, flowering times.
• Plants of Guam by Philip H. Moore and Patrick D. McMakin on the University of Guam website: brief fact sheet on Acrostichum aureum with photo.
• Vegetation of Malaysian Lowlands: fact sheet of habit and uses with photo.
• Tico Ethnobotanical Dictionary on Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases: brief facts with medicinal uses.
• Halophyte DataBase, Salt-Tolerant Plants and Their Uses by N P Yensen: fact sheet on features and uses.
• Direct uses of mangrove flora in Southeast Asia on the Wetlands International-Asia Pacific website: use as cattle feed.
REFERENCES

• Peter K L Ng and N Sivasothi, "A Guide to the Mangroves of Singapore I: The Ecosystem and Plant Diversity", Singapore Science Centre, 1999 (p. 73-74: description, habit, photo).
• Michael Mastaller, "Mangroves: The Forgotten Forest Between Land and Sea", Tropical Press, 1997 (p. 7: distribution; 93, 96-97: food, medicinal and other uses).
marius-secan, corjan3, uleko, rousettus, maaciejka, maurydv, Dis. Ac., cirano, Argus, CeltickRanger, mamcg, jusninasirun, vanni2009, boreocypriensis, anel has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Foozi,
Fantastic composition with brilliant colors and superb details.
Lovely capture with amazing contrast against the dark background.
Marius.

Ciao Foozi. Magnificent contrast and brigh colours in a lovely graphic compo.

Roberto

Dazzling! regards Yiannis

hello Foozi
great light on the leave,s with great sharpness and good details
great shot
thanks greeting lou

Hello Foozi,
Yet another excellent image from you. What a wonderful eye for beauty you have!! Simplicity, once again, and so well presented. You might consider cloning out the reflections in the upper part of the photo, but a great photo as is. Thank you and best wishes.
Neels

Ciao Foozi, fantastic light, lovely composition with splendid colors and superb sharpness, very well done my friend, ciao Silvio

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3396 W: 172 N: 3310] (10940)
  • [2011-01-05 6:18]

Hello Foozi,
A fantastic capture of these fern leaves glowing in the light! Wnderful colours and sharp focus against the soft background. Very well framed too!
TFS and best wishes, Ulla

  • Great 
  • lousat Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 6595 W: 89 N: 15659] (65489)
  • [2011-01-05 6:18]

Hi Foozi,a new page in your artistic leaves gallery,today the colors and the lights are different but the result is always a fantastic spectacle.My best compliments,have a nice day,Luciano

salam akhi Foozi
Mangrove Fern is very different from fern species here. it is very beautiful with colorful parts. you nicely captured it against dark BG. superb coloration and great focus and composition. also POV/DOF and lighting superb. thanks for sharing. best wishes
Ahmet

Beautiful photo Foozi. The composition is excellent, the colours are fantastic and the sharpness is impressive.
Regards,
Christodoulos

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5137 W: 166 N: 13121] (49139)
  • [2011-01-05 8:36]

Hello Foozi,
Another very beautiful fern in splendid light and colours. The contrast against the dark BG is fantastic. Excellent sharpness. Great choice of composition.
Regards,
Peter

Hi Foozi,
very interesting photo. Beautiful colours of these leaves. Great composition.
Thank You very much for sharing
Maciek

Hallo Foozi,
a superb picture of these leaves, outstanding sharpness, fantastic vivid colours and light, excellent POV and a very pleasing composition, very well done
TFS
Best regards
Maurizio

Hello Foozi,

my friend an great diagonal compposition with exellent sharpness and pov.
Fine colors.

Gert

hello Foozi, tis is wonderful composition, I love the lighting colors!
TFS Nasos

Hi Foozi,
I am impressed by your photographic creativity; the composition and sharpness are perfect and the colours of the leaves are astonishing. Best wishes, Pambos

Hello Foozi,
The colours are truly amazing and diagonal composition is wonderful. Well done!
Regards,
Mircea

  • Great 
  • cirano Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 997 W: 0 N: 944] (13609)
  • [2011-01-05 11:31]

Hello Foozi,
What an impressive light and colors.Fantastic composition with great sharpness and excellent POV.TFS.
Regards,
Dϋrzan

hello Foozi

a appropriate and funny title, very beautiful
photo with very fine POV and the way is framed,
i love that warmer light and color tones, TFS

Asbed

  • Great 
  • mamcg Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 333 W: 13 N: 91] (9843)
  • [2011-01-05 20:07]

Salaam Ya Foozi,

SUBHAAN ALLAH..the only word I could recite, you have beautiful nature plants there but here it is all dead and dry, amazing I enjoyed most by looking at, TFS.
Regards.

Musa.

Salam Foozi.
It is amazing how you can see this mundane subject and transformed it into stunning nature image. Colors and texture are so well observed and framed to fine graphism and bokeh.
Thanks and kind regards - Jusni

Excellent photo! I love the brilliant orange against the dark background. Pin sharp with true colours, well done. I love the title as well, suits the content of the photo

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5038 W: 260 N: 15594] (50626)
  • [2011-01-06 5:18]

Hello Foozi,
Simply beautiful: there is no other way to describe this! If I were to strive for perfection I might have cloned away the larger light-spots in the Bg but that is a very small point compared with the total attraction of this image.
This is superb my friend and thanks for sharing it,
Ivan

Hello Foozi,
beautiful composition, excellent colors and sharpness.
Congratulations and thanks for sharing

Hello Vanni

Hi MF Foozi,

A fine art macro work indeed! Good choice for the composition too.
Have a nice night!

Bayram

  • Great 
  • anel Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 3053 W: 3 N: 8715] (40574)
  • [2011-01-10 1:54]

Hello Foozi,
Missed some of your shots and beautiful ones! Like little fires your leaves, artistically dispalyed on the branch. Great photo, dear Foozi, shown with one of your powerful compositions. Looking at the shape of the leaves I didn't think about fern.
Thanks also for the interesting note.
Kind regards
Anne

Hello Foozi,

Well captured, excellent tone and beautiful leaf!
It's very beautiful contrast for mangrove's leaf with yellow, orange and wick of green, and it is also effective to show the diagonal arrangement by five. The contrast between the foreground and background with blurred image draws out a good effect for the whole.

Regards,
mikio

indeed very much flamy, TFS Ori

Hello Foozi,

I like the distinct colours of the leaves, stand out strongly on the dark background!
The elements are well arranged in the frame, in particular the diagonal is appealing...
Sharp details, well exposed!

Greetings,
Pablo -

Hello Foozi,
Excellent......what a beautiful picture.
Kind regards,
Srikumar

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