| white satinash | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Flowers | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Syzygium |
| Species: | S. puberulum |
| Binomial name | |
| Syzygium puberulum | |
Syzygium puberulum, commonly known as white satinash or downy satinash, is a plant in the family Myrtaceae which is native to rainforests of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, and Papua New Guinea. It was first described in 1942.
Syzygium puberulum is a small, evergreen, rainforest understory tree reaching up to 15 m (49 ft) high, with a trunk diameter not exceeding 30 cm (12 in) [2] [5] The leaves are simple and opposite, papery, dark green above and lighter below. [5] [6] They are held on very short petioles about 5 mm (0.20 in) long, and measure up to 19 cm (7.5 in) long by 5 cm (2.0 in) wide. [5] [6] They have two intramarginal veins, the outer one obscure and the inner one quite obvious, and there are about 18–22 lateral veins either side of the midrib. [5] [6] The leaf tip is acuminate, the base is obtuse. [5] [6]
The inflorescence is a pendant panicle produced either terminally, from the leaf axils or from the wood of the branches. [6] [7] The peduncle is 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 in) long and there are up to 5 flowers clustered at the apex. [5] [6]
The fruit are, in botanical terms, berries - i.e. fleshy, stoneless fruit produced from a single flower containing one ovary. [7] They are somewhat conical or pear-shaped, and measure up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long by 4.5 cm (1.8 in) wide with 1 to 5 seeds. [5]
This plant was first formally described (as a new species) in 1942 by Elmer Drew Merrill and Lily May Perry. They published the name in a paper titled Plantae Papuanae Archboldianae in the Journal of the Arnold Arboretum. [3] [6] There are no infraspecies of this taxon. [4]
The genus name Syzygium comes from the Greek word syzgos , meaning "joined" and is a reference to the paired leaves displayed by members of the genus. The species epithet puberulum come from the word puberulent meaning covered in fine hair, referring to the downy covering on the calyx. [7]
In Australia this tree is found in Cape York Peninsula, particularly in the area of the Kutini-Payamu National Park (formerly Iron Range National Park), as well as some of the islands of the Torres Strait. [5] [8] In Papua New Guinea it has been observed in the south west near the border with West Papua, but there are many more observations in the southeast peninsula - i.e. north, south and east of Port Moresby. [8]
In Australia it is usually found occupying gallery forest, i.e. forest occurring beside a river or lake in areas that would otherwise not be suitable habitat, at elevations up to 160 m (520 ft). [5] [2] In Papua New Guinea it occurs mostly in rainforested gullies up to about 450 m (1,480 ft) above sea level. [2]
Syzygium puberulum serves as a host plant for larvae of the pale cerulean butterfly ( Jamides cyta ) [9]
This species is listed by both the Queensland Department of Environment and Science and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as least concern. [1] [2]
It has been suggested that the white satinash would make a good garden plant due to its weeping habit, colourful fruit and pendulous inflorescences, [5] however there is no evidence that the species is being sold by nurseries. In the city of Cairns, just two specimens have been planted, both of them in the Tanks Arts Centre section of the Cairns Botanic Gardens. [10] The species does not reach a size where it might produce useful timber. [5]
Syzygium is a genus of flowering plants that belongs to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The genus comprises about 1200 species, and has a native range that extends from Africa and Madagascar through southern Asia east through the Pacific. Its highest levels of diversity occur from Malaysia to northeastern Australia, where many species are very poorly known and many more have not been described taxonomically. One indication of this diversity is in leaf size, ranging from as little as a half inch to as great as 4 ft 11 inches by sixteen inches in Syzygium acre of New Caledonia.
Agathis robusta, commonly known as Dundathu pine, kauri pine, Queensland kauri (pine), Australian kauri (pine) or smooth-barked kauri, is a coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae. Although sometimes called a pine it is not a true pine, having leaves rather than needles. It has a disjunct distribution, occurring in Papua New Guinea and Queensland, Australia. Populations in Papua New Guinea may be treated as the distinct species Agathis spathulata.
Syzygium luehmannii is a medium-sized coastal rainforest tree native to Australia. Common names include riberry, small leaved lilly pilly, cherry satinash, cherry alder, or clove lilli pilli.
Syzygium australe, with many common names that include brush cherry, scrub cherry, creek lilly-pilly, creek satinash, and watergum, is a rainforest tree native to eastern Australia. It can attain a height of up to 35 m with a trunk diameter of 60 cm. In cultivation, this species is usually a small to medium-sized tree with a maximum height of only 18m.
Syzygium fibrosum is a species of rainforest trees native to monsoon forests of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Common names include small red apple, (Bamaga) fibrous satinash and apricot satinash.
Syzygium francisii is a native Australian tree, common on the eastern sea board, between Morisset, New South Wales and Gladstone, Queensland. Common names include giant water gum, rose satinash, and Francis water gum. The habitat of Syzygium francisii is rainforest on basaltic or fertile alluvial soils.
Syzygium hemilamprum, commonly known as the broad-leaved lilly pilly, blush satinash, cassowary gum, Eungella gum, and treated as Acmena hemilampra in New South Wales and Queensland, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is native to New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. It is a rainforest tree with broadly lance-shaped to elliptic leaves, panicles of white flowers and more or less spherical white fruit.
Syzygium cormiflorum, commonly known as the bumpy satinash, is a species of Syzygium tree endemic to Queensland in northeastern Australia.
Jamides cyta, the pale cerulean, is a butterfly of the lycaenids or blues family. It is found throughout South-east Asia, from Malaysia to the Solomon Islands and the Philippines, as well as Queensland in Australia.
Syzygium alliiligneum, commonly known as onionwood, Mission Beach satinash or bark in the wood is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to a small part of north eastern Queensland.
Syzygium forte, commonly known as flaky-barked satinash, white apple or brown satinash, is a tree in the family Myrtaceae native to New Guinea and northern Australia.
Syzygium claviflorum is a tree in the Myrtaceae family. It is native to the north of the Australian continent and in tropical and subtropical Asia. It is used for timber, as fuel, as human and cattle food, and for dye. Stunted specimens can be found on the top of the plateau of Bokor National Park, Cambodia.
Syzygium apodophyllum is a tree in the Myrtaceae family endemic to north Queensland. The fruit is edible. It is a host for the exotic plant-pathogen fungus Austropuccinia psidii, which is causing a lot of damage to vegetation communities and economic plants.
Syzygium tierneyanum, commonly known as river cherry, water cherry, or Bamaga satinash, is a tree in the family Myrtaceae which is native to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and north east Queensland. It often grows along watercourses where it is a facultative rheophyte.
Syzygium branderhorstii, commonly known as the Lockerbie satinash, is a small tree in the family Myrtaceae found in New Guinea and northern Queensland, Australia. It is cauliflorous, producing large inflorescences from the trunk. The fruits are eaten by brush turkeys.
Xanthophyllum octandrum, commonly known as Macintyre's boxwood, false jitta, yellow boxwood or sovereignwood, is a slow-growing tree in the milkwort family Polygalaceae which has the potential to reach thousands of years of age. It is endemic to coastal northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Pandanus solms-laubachii, commonly known as the swamp pandan, is a small tree in the family Pandanaceae which occurs in northeastern Queensland and possibly in Papua New Guinea. It is closely related to both Pandanus gemmifer and Pandanus grayorum.
Syzygium sayeri, commonly known as pink satinash, is a plant in the family Myrtaceae which is native to northeastern Queensland, Australia, and New Guinea. It grows in well developed rainforest on various soils, often near watercourses.
Leea nova-guineensis, commonly known as bandicoot berry, is a plant in the family Vitaceae native to parts of Malesia and Oceania.
Sterculia shillinglawii, commonly known as tulip sterculia or lacewood, is a tree in the family Malvaceae which is native to Papuasia and northeastern Australia.
Data related to Syzygium puberulum at Wikispecies
Media related to Syzygium puberulum at Wikimedia Commons