On a flat earthen pot, the deadwood’s rotting texture jutting out from a mossy mound, lends to an insane twist that betray the age and character of the windswept slanting bantigue, a miniature of what could be a tree sucking every ounce of life from a cliff overlooking a troubled sea, had it been left out clinging to a cliff looking out to brace for another tempest.
Now, it is safely the main focus on the bonsai exhibit.
But did you know that before it occupied that earthen pot now made a focal point in a Japanese inspired interior, that bantigue or Pemphis acidula could still be taunting decades of wear, storm winds lashing and twisting its trunk and branches trying its mighty best to uproot it from its perch?
The insolence to keep its stubborn grip on the rockface, has shaped its gnarled trunk, twisted branches and dark green thick leaves making it a perfect material for the living art.
Bantigue, which is still found in cliffs’ crevices and rocky outcrops in Bohol coasts, is in fact a true mangrove, those plants that can thrive on salty environments and have been acclaimed as one of nature’s most efficient at capturing carbon and other greenhouse gases.
Said to be able to capture carbon by absorption five times better that terrestrial trees, mangroves keep these carbon dioxides from getting released into the atmosphere, hastening climate change.In the Philippines, other than acting as the earth’s most efficient air purifiers, mangroves have proven to be the coastal communities’ toughest defences against storm surges, storm-spawned waves and hurricanes.
However, despite its critical roles in maintaining a balanced environment, environment authorities report massive mangrove areas devastation, usually driven by natural forces and mostly by human activities. And for the acidula, illegal bonsai enthusiasts.
Sadly too, bantigui, considered perfect material for bonsai is now considered endangered mangrove species, like Kandelia candel (which is a kind of tungog) which again, is critically endangered.
So are tangal and malatangal (tungog).
Capable of producing tannins from its bark, these kind of tungog mangroves have been used to dye leather, or provide the commercial tans for anything from belts to shoes. And it is food-grade.
Tungog, right. That which lends the color and the raspy bitter taste to your favorite tuba.