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 adelphicum Diels

Nova Guinea Vol. 14: 93 (1924)

Family: Myrtaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree (12-25 m high, sometimes a shrub to 5 m high); Bole markedly fluted (up to 130 cm diam.); crooked (bole 6-15 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey or brown (dark (mottled), rough, scaly or flaky (with small to large flakes); Subrhytidome (under-bark) orange, brown, or mottled; less than 25 mm thick, 4.0-12.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze brownish red, brown (or dark brown), or brownish purple, markings absent; inner blaze brown (or dark brown) or brownish purple, markings absent; bark exudate (sap) absent; 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 above middle or broadest at or near middle, 1.0-2.5 cm, 0.7-1.0 (-2.0) cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acute, venation pinnate, secondary veins closed, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins present; leaves lower surface pale green or greenish yellow, upper surface dark green or slightly yellow, indumentum (hairs) absent; present (dense); domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary or terminal, flowers on an unbranched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, not stalked or stalked (shortly (sub-sessile), flowers with many planes of symmetry, 4.0-5.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (4-5 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth pale yellow, white, or cream-coloured; 4, free; stamens 100, present, free of each other, free of the perianth (attached to hypanthium); ovary inferior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on unbranched axis, fruit 6.0 (c.) mm long, 6.0 (c.) mm diam., dark red or dark purple, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, to about 5 mm long, not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 4 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, Morobe, Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Southern Highlands, Central, Northern, Milne Bay & New Britain.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details