Species

Syzygium paniculatum

Etymology

Syzygium: From the Greek syzygos 'joined', referring to the paired leaves

Authority

Syzygium paniculatum Gaertn.

Family

Myrtaceae

Brief Description

A dense bushy tree to 15 m tall. Leaves are 3–9 cm long, opposite, obovate, tapering at the leaf base; dark glossy green above, paler below. Flowers with white stamens and petals. The edible fruit is usually magenta, but can be white, pink or purple.

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

Eugenia paniculata Gaertn. J.Britt. nom. illeg.

Habitat

Self establishes freely in shade, including native forest, parks, gardens

Similar Taxa

Syzygium australe q.v. (under which name S. paniculatum is sometimes sold, erroneously). The two can be distinguished even when young from the leafy twigs, which in S. paniculatum have smooth internodes above and below the nodes, whereas S. australe has its leafy twigs "generally 4-angled or shortly 4-winged, pairs of wings running down from each petiole but amalgamating and forming a pocket or hump above the next lower pair of leaves." http://keys.trin.org.au/key-server/data/0e0f0504-0103-430d-8004-060d07080d04/media/Html/taxon/Syzygium_australe.htm S. australe appears to be a lot less common in cultivation than S. paniculatum and, compared with the latter, wild seedlings are uncommon in S. australe.

Flower Colours

White

This page last updated on 13 Feb 2017