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 longipes (Warb.) Merr. & L.M.Perry

Journal of the Arnold Arboretum Vol. 23: 274 (1942)

Other Literature: Harley & Perry, Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 202 (1973)

Family: Myrtaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree (up to c. 12 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to c. 26 cm diam.); crooked (often bent) or straight (bole usually less than 2 m long, up to c. 6 m); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark pale grey or pale brown, slightly rough, slightly pustular or peeling (and papery), lenticels rounded/swelling; Subrhytidome (under-bark) brown (pale (turning purplish on contact with metal blade), white, or pale yellow; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze with two layers; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze yellow (pale (straw-coloured) or pale brown, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze yellow (pale (straw-coloured) or pale brown, 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, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle, 6.0-9.0 cm, 2.0-3.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins closed, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins present (up to 4 mm from margin); leaves lower surface green or pale green, upper surface pale green or dull dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; present; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 8.0-10.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (7-8 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white (on outer surface), red, or pink; 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 branched axis, fruit 8.0-10.0 mm long, 8.0-12.0 mm diam., red, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long (8-10 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, Gulf & Central.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: Notes Eugenia stipularis has been included in this account of Syzygium longipes.