Barry Conn (NSW) & Kipiro Damas (LAE).
Guide to trees of Papua New Guinea
Copyright held by the authors, National Herbarium of New South Wales, and Papua New Guinea National Herbarium

Syzygium acuminatissimum DC.

Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis, Sive Enumeratio Contracta Ordinum Generum Specierumque Plantarum Huc Usque Cognitarum, Juxta Methodi Naturalis Normas Digesta Vol. 3: 261

Family: Myrtaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree or Large canopy tree (up to 27 m high); Bole markedly fluted (up to c. 50 cm diam.); straight (bole up to c. 10 m long); buttresses buttresses absent or buttresses present; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark red (sometimes outer bark with pinkish tinge), brown, or grey, smooth (almost (rarely) or rough, slightly peeling, rarely scaly or flaky, or fissured; Subrhytidome (under-bark) green; less than 25 mm thick, 10.0-14.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze pale brown, slightly pink, or white, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze pale brown, slightly pink, or white, markings absent, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, not readily flowing (spotty), colour not changing on exposure to air, not sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) absent.

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches, opposite (in pairs, opposite one another on the branchlet), simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle or slightly broadest below middle, (4.0-) 7.0-10.0 (-12.0) cm, (1.5-) 2.0-3.0 (-3.4) cm; symmetric (sometimes very slightly asymmetric), entire, not dissected or lobed, long-tapering (acumin up to c. 20 mm long) or acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins present; leaves lower surface dull pale green, upper surface dark green (glossy), indumentum (hairs) absent; present (dense); domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary (distil leaf axils) or terminal, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 3.0-4.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (3-4 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white or cream-coloured; 4, free; stamens 100, present, free of each other, free of the perianth (attached to the hypanthium); ovary inferior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 10.0-14.0 mm long, 10.0-14.0 mm diam., red or purple, not spiny, fleshy, simple (calyx persistent), indehiscent, berry; seeds 1, about 10 mm long (c. 8 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (6-8 mm diam.).

Distribution: East Sepik, Morobe, Southern Highlands, Western, Central, Milne Bay, New Britain & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details