Syzygium smithii

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Syzygium smithii
Syzygium smithii 2.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Syzygium
Species:
S. smithii
Binomial name
Syzygium smithii
Synonyms

Eugenia smithiiPoir.
Acmena smithii(Poir.) Merr. & L.M.Perry
Lomastelma smithii (Poir.) J.H.Willis

Contents

Syzygium smithii (formerly Acmena smithii) is a summer-flowering, winter-fruiting evergreen tree, native to Australia and belonging to the myrtle family Myrtaceae. [2] It shares the common name "lilly pilly" with several other plants.It is planted as shrubs or hedgerows, and features: rough, woody bark; cream and green smooth, waxy leaves; flushes of pink new growth; and white to maroon edible berries. Unpruned, it will grow about 3–5 m (9.8–16.4 ft) tall in the garden.

Taxonomy

Syzygium smithii's name dates from its 1789 description as Eugenia smithii by French botanist Jean Louis Marie Poiret, [3] its specific name honouring James Edward Smith, [4] who had described it two years earlier as E. elliptica. The name was unusable due to that combination having been used for another species. [5] It gained its current binomial name in 1893 when reclassified in the genus Syzygium by German botanist Franz Josef Niedenzu, [1] and since 2009 the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (CHAH) Australian Plant Census has confirmed the recognition of this current name. The species has been widely known for many years as Acmena smithii, still used in NSW as of 2009, in Qld currently as of July 2013, and it still occurs today on many older web pages.

Common names include lilly pilly, Chinese Apple, coast satinash, Eungella gum, and in the timber trade, lilipilli satinash. [4]

Description

Syzygium smithii grows as a tree to 20 m (66 ft) high by 5–15 m (16–49 ft) wide, with a trunk attaining a diameter of 70 cm (2.3 ft). The largest tree was recorded at Dingo Creek Flora Reserve, south of Tenterfield, being 30 m (98 ft) tall and a trunk 60 cm (2.0 ft) wide. [6]

The trunk is sometimes buttressed. The bark is brown and scaled and flakes off easily. Its dark green shiny leaves are arranged oppositely on the stems, and are lanceolate or ovate and measure 2–10 by 1–3 cm (1–4 by 0.5–1 in). The cream-white flowers appear from October to March, occurring in panicles at the end of small branches. Berries follow on, appearing from May to August, and are oval or globular with a shallow depression at the top. [7] They measure 0.8 to 2 cm in diameter, and range from white to maroon in colour.

A distinctive narrow leaved form with thin leaves 3–6 cm long is found along rainforest riverbanks from Sydney northwards through Queensland, [4] (rheophytic race [8] ) and a small leaved form (known as the small-leaved race or var. minor [8] ) with leaves measuring 1.6–6 cm found in dryer rainforests from Colo Heights near Sydney north to the Bunya Mountains. [4]

Distribution and habitat

Syzygium smithii is found in rainforest from the Windsor Tablelands [9] in north-east Queensland south through New South Wales and Victoria to Wilsons Promontory. [4] Associated trees species include bangalow palm ( Archontophoenix cunninghamiana ), ironwood ( Backhousia myrtifolia ), black wattle ( Callicoma serratifolia ), sassafras, ( Doryphora sassafras ), blueberry ash ( Elaeocarpus reticulatus ), pinkwood ( Eucryphia moorei ), sweet pittosporum ( Pittosporum undulatum ) and kanuka ( Tristaniopsis laurina ). Stunted coastal plants are often associated with coast banksia ( Banksia integrifolia ). [9]

Ecology

Flowers being pollinated by a bee and an ant Lilli pilli flowers.JPG
Flowers being pollinated by a bee and an ant
Berries Syzygium smithii.jpg
Berries
Flowers of Syzygium smithii (Poir, 1789), Mount Keira, Illawarra region, New South Wales, Australia. Photographed mid-November 2015 2015-11-13 ~ NSW - Mount Keira - Syzygium smithii.jpg
Flowers of Syzygium smithii (Poir, 1789), Mount Keira, Illawarra region, New South Wales, Australia. Photographed mid-November 2015

The Australian king parrot, crimson rosella, rose-crowned fruit-dove, superb fruit-dove, topknot pigeon, white-headed pigeon, wonga pigeon, satin bowerbird, and pied currawong have all been recorded eating the berries as well as brushtail possums and flying foxes. Ringtail possums also eat fresh leaves. [4] [10] In New Zealand, wood pigeons (kererū) eat the fruit and disperse the seeds. [11] The leaf-mining larvae of the moth species Pectinivalva acmenae feed on the leaves. [12] Other moth larvae that feed on the leaves include the species Agriophara horrida , Cryptophasa pultenae and Macarostola formosa . [13]

In New Zealand, where it is known as "monkey apple", the species has become naturalised in forest and scrub and has been classified as an "unwanted organism". [14] In the Waikato region, at least, it can outgrow native canopy tree species such as puriri ( Vitex lucens ) and taraire ( Beilschmiedia tarairi ), and become the permanent canopy. [15]

Cultivation

The species was introduced into cultivation as Eugenia elliptica at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew by Sir Joseph Banks in 1790. [16] Syzygium smithii is widely grown in cultivation as a specimen tree. [17] Noted American landscape architect Thomas Church used the species in gardens that he created in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1950s. These were often clipped to shape. [18] The species has also been used as a subject for bonsai. [19]

Of the several species grown in cultivation, S. smithii is one of the more resistant to attacks by psyllids. [20] [21] The species can tolerate both full sun and full shade. Established plants withstand dry periods and moderate frost. [22]

Syzygium smithii is listed as a fire retardant species by such authorities as Gosford Council NSW, NSW Fire Service and the Country Fire Authority. [23]

Cultivars

A number of forms have been selected for cultivation, including the following:

The 1889 book The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that Eugenia smithii was called "Tdgerail" by the Indigenous people of the Illawarra (New South Wales); and "Coochin-coochin" by others in Queensland. It also states that the fruits were eaten by the Indigenous Australians and are "acidulous, and wholesome." [28]

Uses and cultural references

J. H. Maiden in 1889 recorded that "The fruits are eaten by the aboriginals, small boys, and birds. They are formed in profusion, are acidulous, and wholesome. They are white with a purplish tint, and up to one inch in diameter." [29] The mildly acidic fruit have been described as somewhat lacking in taste. [4] [17]

The white to pinkish brown timber is used for flooring, frames and fittings. [9]

The character "Lilly Pilly" (based on the fruit of the tree) who is an actress friend of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, was illustrated by author May Gibbs. [30] [31]

The fruit and leaves of Syzigium smithii were featured on a 49c Australian stamp, one of a bush tucker set, in 2002. The stamp was designed by Janet Boschen and titled "Lilly-pilly". [32]

Related Research Articles

<i>Syzygium</i> Genus of plants

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.

<i>Syzygium paniculatum</i> Species of tree

Syzygium paniculatum, the magenta lilly pilly or magenta cherry, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to New South Wales, Australia. A broad dense bushy rainforest tree, in cultivation it grows to a height of 15 m (49 ft) with a trunk diameter up to 35 cm (14 in). The largest known example is at Ourimbah Creek, 35 m (115 ft) metres tall. The leaves are 3–9 cm (1.2–3.5 in) long, opposite, simple and slightly obovate, tapering at the leaf base. They are dark glossy green above, and paler below. White flowers are produced in clusters. The edible fruit is usually magenta, but can be white, pink or purple. The seeds are polyembryonic.

<i>Syzygium luehmannii</i> Species of tree

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fletchers Glen</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

Fletchers Glen is a small but mature temperate rainforest in Bouddi National Park in New South Wales, Australia. It provides habitat for two threatened plant species — the Magenta Lily Pilly and the Paperbark as well as the only locally known population of Snowwood.

<i>Archontophoenix cunninghamiana</i> Species of palm

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana – commonly known as Bangalow palm, king palm, Illawara palm or piccabeen palm – is a tree in the palm family Arecaceae which is endemic to the east coast of New South Wales and Queensland, Australia.

<i>Syzygium oleosum</i> Species of tree

Syzygium oleosum, common names include blue lilly pilly, Scented satinash, and blue cherry. It is a species of Syzygium tree native to the eastern Australian rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests.

<i>Syzygium australe</i> Species of tree

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.

<i>Glochidion ferdinandi</i> Species of tree

Glochidion ferdinandi, with common names that include cheese tree, is a species of small to medium–sized trees, constituting part of the plant family Phyllanthaceae. They grow naturally across eastern Australia, from south–eastern New South Wales northwards to northern and inland Queensland, in rainforests and humid eucalypt forests. Frugivorous birds such as pigeons, figbirds and parrots consume its fruit.

<i>Syzygium moorei</i> Species of tree

Syzygium moorei is a rare sub tropical rainforest tree, growing on volcanic soils in the Mount Warning area of north east New South Wales and south east Queensland, Australia. Common names include coolamon, watermelon tree, durobby and robby; it is also called "rose apple" but this can refer to many species of Syzygium.

<i>Syzygium francisii</i> Species of tree

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.

<i>Syzygium floribundum</i> Species of tree

Syzygium floribundum, synonym Waterhousea floribunda, is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. It grows along streams from the Williams River near Dungog to Mackay in central eastern Queensland. Known as the weeping lilli pilli, this tree is widely planted as an ornamental. Planted trees from 1827 may be seen at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. However, these trees are damaged and threatened by the roosting grey headed flying foxes. A very large tree is located at Western Park in Auckland, New Zealand.

<i>Syzygium ingens</i> Species of tree

Syzygium ingens, commonly known as red apple, is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a medium-sized to tall rainforest tree with narrow elliptic to oblong leaves and panicles of white flowers on the ends of branchlets, followed by spherical red berries.

<i>Syzygium hodgkinsoniae</i> Species of tree

Syzygium hodgkinsoniae is a rare subtropical rainforest tree, growing on alluvial soils by streams in the north east New South Wales and south east Queensland, Australia. The range of natural distribution is from the Richmond River, New South Wales to Gympie in south east Queensland. Common names include smooth-bark rose apple or red lilly pilly.

<i>Syzygium hemilamprum</i> Species of tree

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.

<i>Gossia acmenoides</i> Species of tree

Gossia acmenoides, known as the scrub ironwood, is a rainforest tree of the family Myrtaceae, native to eastern Australia. The usual habitat of this small tree is drier rainforest areas. The range of natural distribution is from Jamberoo in New South Wales to Eungella National Park in northern Queensland.

<i>Acronychia laevis</i> Species of flowering plant

Acronychia laevis, commonly known as hard aspen, glossy acronychia or northern white lilly pilly, is a species of shrub or small tree in the citrus family, and is endemic to eastern Australia. It has simple, elliptical to egg-shaped leaves, groups of creamy white flowers and fleshy, mitre-shaped to spherical fruit.

<i>Decaspermum humile</i> Species of tree

Decaspermum humile, commonly known as the silky myrtle, is a tree from Australia and Asia. It can be used as bush food, as indicated by the alternate common name of currant myrtle. The tree features an attractive dark glossy crown. The new pink leaves with silvery hairs are particularly appealing.

<i>Syzygium alliiligneum</i> Species of plant in the family Myrtaceae

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.

<i>Syzygium forte</i> Species of plant in the family Myrtaceae

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.

<i>Syzygium unipunctatum</i> Species of plant in the family Myrtaceae

Syzygium unipunctatum, commonly known as the rolypoly satinash, is a small tree in the family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to the rainforests of the Wet Tropics of Queensland.

References

  1. 1 2 "Syzygium smithii (Poir.) Nied". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  2. 1 2 "Syzygium smithii". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  3. ↑ "Eugenia smithii Poir". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Floyd, Alexander G., Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia, Inkata Press 2008, ISBN   978-0-9589436-7-3 pp. 265–66
  5. ↑ "Eugenia elliptica Sm". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  6. ↑ Floyd, Alexander G., Australian Rainforests in NSW, volume 2, Surrey Beatty & Sons 1990, ISBN   0-949324-32-9 page 176
  7. ↑ F.A. Zich; B.P.M Hyland; T. Whiffen; R.A. Kerrigan (2020). "Syzygium smithii". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Edition 8. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  8. 1 2 Harden, Gwen Jean (2001). Flora of New South Wales. 2. UNSW Press. p. 169. ISBN   978-0-86840-609-1 . Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 Chippendale, G.M. (2006). Forest Trees of Australia. Csiro Publishing. p. 196. ISBN   978-0-643-06969-5 . Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  10. ↑ Myerscough, Peter J. (1998), "Ecology of Myrtaceae with special reference to the Sydney region" (PDF), Cunninghamia, 5 (4): 797–807, archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-03-11, retrieved 2010-05-11
  11. ↑ "Pest management programmes". Waikato Regional Council. Archived from the original on 2013-02-10. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  12. ↑ Hoare, Robert; van Nieukerken, Erik (2013). "Phylogeny and host-plant relationships of the Australian Myrtaceae leafmining moth genus Pectinivalva (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae), with new subgenera and species". ZooKeys (278): 1–64. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.278.4743 . ISSN   1313-2970. PMC   3677346 . PMID   23794827.
  13. ↑ Common, I.F.B. (1990). Moths of Australia. CSIRO Publishing. ISBN   978-0-643-10271-2 . Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  14. ↑ "Monkey apple". Pests & Diseases. Ministry for Primary Industries. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  15. ↑ Waikato Regional Pest Management Plan 2014-2024: Appendix 1, Cost benefit analysis (PDF). Waikato Regional Council. p. 199. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2019.
  16. ↑ Sims, John (1817). Curtis's Botanical Magazine. p. 1872. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  17. 1 2 Elliot, Rodger W.; Jones, David L.; Blake, Trevor (1985). Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation: Vol. 2. Port Melbourne: Lothian Press. pp. 139–40. ISBN   0-85091-143-5.
  18. ↑ McClintock, Elizabeth May (2001). The Trees of Golden Gate Park and San Francisco. Heyday. p. 34. ISBN   978-1-890771-28-7 . Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  19. ↑ "Australian Native Plants as Bonsai - 2008". Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  20. ↑ Burke, Don (2001). "Best Lilly Pilly Varieties". Burke's Backyard website. CTC Productions. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  21. ↑ Walters, Brian (December 2008). "Acmena smithii". Australian Native Plants Society website. Australian Native Plants Society. Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  22. ↑ Tong Kwee (2012). Edible Medicinal And Non Medicinal Plants: Volume 3, Fruits. Springer. p. 787. ISBN   978-94-007-2534-8 . Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  23. ↑ "Plant Selection in Fire Prone Areas" (PDF). Central coast NSW, Australia: Gosford City Council. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-23. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  24. ↑ "Acmena smithii var. minor 'Allyn Magic'" (PDF). Plant Varieties Journal. 16 (2): 19–20. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-12. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  25. ↑ Rowell, Raymond J. (1980). Ornamental Flowering Trees in Australia. Australia: AH & AW Reed Pty Ltd. p. 40. ISBN   0-589-50178-X.
  26. ↑ Stewart, Angus (2001). Gardening on the Wild Side. Sydney: ABC Books. p. 159. ISBN   0-7333-0791-4.
  27. ↑ "Lilly Pilly (Acmena smithii): varieties" (PDF). Plant Varieties Journal. 22 (1). 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-12. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  28. ↑ J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia : Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney.
  29. ↑ Maiden, J. H. (1889). The Useful Native Plants of Australia (including Tasmania). Sydney: Turner and Henderson. p.  3.
  30. ↑ Bernhardt, Peter (2008). Gods and Goddesses in the Garden: Greco-Roman Mythology and the Scientific Names of Plants . Rutgers University Press. pp.  141. ISBN   978-0-8135-4266-9 . Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  31. ↑ Bernhardt, Peter; Holden, Robert (1992). Gumnut Town: Botanic Fact and Bushland Fantasy. Royal Botanic Gardens. ISBN   978-0-7305-9715-5 . Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  32. ↑ "Plant: Acmena smithii". Stamps. Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
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