Heritiera littoralis is an
evergreen tree growing up to in height with very prominent, sinuous
buttress roots that may be up to tall. It is usually low-branching and the crown is untidy-looking with gnarled branches. The trunk is light grey or grey-brown in appearance, smooth when young but developing vertical fissures as it ages. The leaves are spirally arranged on the branches and varyingly measure from up to , with a
petiole up to long. They are
oblong-elliptical to
ovate-elliptical, dark green on the upper surface and the undersides are silvery-white to light brown due to the presence of
stellate scales. The
inflorescences are
axillary panicles, and as this species is
monoecious, they bear both
pistillate (functionally female) and
staminate (functionally male) flowers on the same plant. The flowers have a fused
perianth tube with usually 5 teeth and are bell-shaped (hence the common name Tulip oak). They are greenish-pink or dull purple, around wide and long. The fruit is a flattened, ellipsoid,
indehiscent, brown woody pod which is derived from the
carpel, and contains a single seed. It has a distinctive oblique keel on the uppermost side and measures up to long by wide. The fruit can float for several weeks and so is able to take advantage of tides, currents and winds to aid in its dispersal. ==Taxonomy==