Syzygium cryptophlebium

Family

Myrtaceae

Botanical Name

Syzygium cryptophlebium (F.Muell.) Craven & Biffin

Craven, L.A. & Biffin, E. (2005) Blumea 50(1): 159. Type: ?.

Synonyms

Syzygium wilsonii subsp. cryptophlebium (F.Muell.) B.Hyland, Australian Journal of Botany Supplementary Series 9: 135(1983), Type: ?. Eugenia cryptophlebia F.Muell., Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae 9: 144(1875), Type: Rockingham Bay, J. Dallachy, holo: MEL; iso: MEL. Eugenia rhadinanthera S.Moore, Journal of Botany 55: 303(1917), Type: Kuranda, L. S. Gibbs 6350, iso; NSW. Eugenia sordida F.M.Bailey, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock. Botany Bulletin 5: 15(1892), Type: Bellenden-Ker, about 4,700 ft. alt., Exped. 1889. Eugenia macoorai F.M.Bailey, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock. Botany Bulletin 5: 15(1892), Type: Near the summit of the south Peak of Bellenden-Ker, Exped. 1889.

Common name

Plum Satinash; Powderpuff Lillipilli; Satinash, Plum; Watergum

Stem

Sometimes with scroll marks on sections of the trunk, i.e. a series of curved parallel lines.

Leaves

Petiole short, slightly channelled on the upper surface, black or purple in colour. Leaf blades about 5.5-16.8 x 1.3-5 cm, petioles about 3-5 mm long. Midrib conspicuously raised on the upper surface. Lateral veins scarcely visible on the upper surface. A few oil dots may be visible with a lens near the midrib.

Flowers

Bracts deciduous, absent at anthesis. Calyx tube (hypanthium) + pedicel about 5-8.5 x 2-4.5 mm, calyx lobes +/- rounded, about 0.5-1.5 mm long. Petals +/- orbicular, about 2-3 mm diam., oil dots visible, comparatively large, about 10-90 per petal. Outer staminal filaments about 5-11 mm long, sometimes glandular, anthers about 0.5-0.7 x 0.5-0.7 mm, gland terminal, near the back of the anther and up to three or four smaller subsidiary glands sometimes present, lower down on the back of the anther. Ovules about 10-25 per locule, placentas axile, ovules transverse, +/- horizontal. Style about 5-12.5 mm long, approximating the stamens.

Fruit

Fruits broadly obovoid to globular, excavated at the apex, attaining about 8-12 mm diam., calyx lobes persistent, about 1-1.5 mm long, pericarp succulent. Seed solitary, about 5-7 mm diam., testa adhering slightly to the pericarp but free from the smooth but glandular surface of the uniformly textured cotyledons. Radicle basal or lateral, cotyledons purple when fresh, cotyledonary stipules present, but small and inconspicuous.

Seedlings

Cataphylls absent or sometimes 1 pair. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade narrowly ovate, apex acuminate, base cuneate or obtuse, glabrous; oil dots very sparse although a few can usually be found along the midrib; stems 4-angled or shortly 4-winged.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to Queensland, occurs in CYP, NEQ and southwards as far as coastal central Queensland. Altitudinal range from sea level to 1550 m. Grows in well developed rain forest, usually but not always, as an understory tree.

Natural History

A small tree in cultivation, popular for its flushes of new growth and the cream flowers which attract birds.

This subspecies occasionally produces millable logs and the timber is marketed as Plum Satinash, a useful structural timber. Wood specific gravity 0.78-0.81. Hyland (1983).