Multiple axillary buds occur in all genera of mangrove Rhizophoreae (Rhizophora, Bruguiera, Ceriops, and Kandelia). In normal development, the upper, larger, first-formed bud ("principal bud") of all of the examined species yielded only a sylleptic branch. Only the smaller, lower "subordinate" bud could yield a flower or inflorescence. Proleptic branches were produced from resting principal buds or, rarely, from subordinate buds by pruning or injury. All of the studied species had continuous growth and architecture based on sylleptic branching. Sylleptic branches developed contemporaneously with the axis that bore them. A broad, well-developed interconnection between the primary vascular systems of a sylleptic branch and its parent axis occurred. The piths of sylleptic branches and their parent axes were confluent. Proleptic branches in these genera had little or no pith connection with their parent axes. The vascular systems of proleptic branches were connected with those of their parent axes only by con...