Syzygium smithii
Common name
Lilly pilly, monkey apple
Synonyms
Acmena smithii, Eugenia smithii
Family
Myrtaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
SYZSMI
Conservation status
Not assessed
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Features
Tree (6-15 m high in cultivation). Lvs very aromatic when crushed; petiole usually c. 5mm long. Lamina 4-12-(15) x 2-5-(8) cm, ovate or elliptic-ovate, coriaceous, glossy above, dotted with glands below; veins parallel and prominent below; base cuneate or narrow-cuneate; apex obtusely cuspidate or acuminate. Fls shortly pedicellate. Hypanthium (including pseudopedicel) 3-5 mm long; calyx lobes 4, deciduous. Petals 4, c. 2mm long, forming a small calyptrum, whitish. Stamens to c.3mm long whitish. Fr. subglobose to broad-oblong or obovoid, often slightly flattened, usually 1-1.7-(3) cm diam., pinkish mauve or white, with apical cavity. Seed large. (Webb et. al. 1988).
Similar taxa
Tree (6-15m high in cultivation); leaves very aromatic when crushed, 4-12cm long x 2-5cm wide, glossy above, dotted with glands below, veins parallel and prominent below; petals whitish, about 2mm long; fruit broad-oblong or ovoid, often slightly flattened, usually 1-1.7cm diameter, pinkish mauve or white; large seed (Webb et al., 1988).
Flowering
October, November, December, January
Flower colours
Cream, White
Year naturalised
1982
Origin
E. Australia - was, until recently, known as Acmena smithii
Etymology
syzygium: From the Greek syzygos ‘joined’, referring to the paired leaves
smithii: James Edward Smith (1757-1858), who gave it the illegitimate homonymous name Eugenia elliptica
Reason For Introduction
Ornamental.
Life Cycle Comments
Perennial. Long-lived plant.
Dispersal
Birds, dispersed by kereru from townships, farms and orchard hedges (DoC, 1996).
Tolerances
Able to establish in existing forest under low light conditions (DoC, 1996)