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 attenuatum (Miq.) Merr. & L.M.Perry

Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Vol. 18: 185 (1939)

Family: Myrtaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group:

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 33 m high); Bole cylindrical; straight; buttresses buttresses present (possibly once recorded as buttressed) or buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark red (pale pink), grey, or reddish brown, almost smooth or rough, scaly or flaky; Subrhytidome (under-bark) green; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze white, green (pale (tinge, sometimes), or yellow (pale (straw-coloured), markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze white or yellow (pale (straw-coloured), markings absent, fibrous; 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 (4-11 mm), not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle, 5.0-12.0 cm, 2.5-5.5 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acuminate or long-tapering, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins present; leaves lower surface green, upper surface dark green (dull (to glossy), indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 7.0-10.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (3-4 mm); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white or pink; 5, free; stamens 100, present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary inferior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2-3; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit (8.0-) 10.0-15.0 mm long, 8.0-10.0 mm diam., white, cream-coloured, or red (pale pinkish), not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long, not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (6-8 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, Morobe, Eastern Highlands & Papuan Islands.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details