Syzygium paniculatum
Synonyms
Eugenia paniculata Gaertn. J.Britt. nom. illeg.
Family
Myrtaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Conservation status
Not applicable
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.
Habitat
Self establishes freely in shade, including native forest, parks, gardens
Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key
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
Threats
This taxon may be prone to Myrtle Rust (Austropuccinia psidii) is an invasive fungus which threatens myrtle species - learn more myrtlerust.org.nz
Etymology
syzygium: From the Greek syzygos ‘joined’, referring to the paired leaves