Syzygium cumini

Tuiwawa, S. H., Craven, L. A., Sam, C. & Crisp, M. D., 2013, The genus Syzygium (Myrtaceae) in Vanuatu, Blumea 58 (1), pp. 53-67 : 59

4. Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels

Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels (1912) 25. — Myrtus cumini L. (1753) 560. — Eugenia cumini (L.) Druce (1914) 418. — Typus (fide Kostermans 1981, Verdcourt 2001): Herb. Hermann 1: 45, No. 185, right specimen (lecto BM n.v.), Sri Lanka.

Tree up to 30 m tall. Vegetative branchlets terete, up to 3 mm diam; bark dull, slightly striated, not glandular or verrucose, persistent. Leaf lamina c. 16 by 7 cm, narrowly elliptic to oblong; base symmetric, cuneate; apex longly acuminate, acumen flat; margin flat to undulate; coriaceous; drying reddish brown above; primary vein (midrib) 1 mm wide; secondary veins closed, more than 20 each side of primary vein, 5 – 8 mm apart; intramarginal vein strongly arched, up to 2 mm from the margin at the lamina midpoint; secondary and tertiary intramarginal vein absent; oil dots present, not visible to the unaided eye in transmitted light, small, dense. Petiole c. 25 mm long; adaxially strongly grooved. Inflorescence terminal-axillary or cauliflorous; corymbose panicle; up to 7 by 5 cm, 6–9 flowers (closely clustered) per anthopodium; hypopodium up to 2 mm long; main inflorescence axis 1 mm wide, terete, dull, slightly wrinkled; bracts deciduous, up to 0.5 mm long. Hypanthium stipitate, stipe c. 3 mm long; obconic to campanulate, c. 6 by 6 mm, glossy, not visibly gland dotted, striated. Sepals 4, up to 0.5 by 2 mm, subcircular, persistent, free. Petals not seen. Stamens many, more than 50, outermost stamens up to 6 mm long; filament white, free; anther sacs elliptic or circular. Style c. 3 mm long. Fruit pink to dark purple; smooth; plane; ellipsoid; up to 2.5 by 1.3 cm.

Distribution & Ecology — Vanuatu (Malampa province: Malakula; Sanma province: Espiritu Santo; Shefa province: Efate). Syzygium cumini is widely distributed in the Indomalesian region and is commonly cultivated in tropical regions. Its natural range may be India and Sri Lanka ( Smith 1985). The species is naturalised in several countries, e.g., Fiji and New Caledonia, and potentially be adventive in Vanuatu.

Vernacular names — Scamon tree (SE coast of Malakula); esamilo (Espiritu Santo).

Uses — The fruits are edible but are usually used for mak- ing preserves. It is also a useful timber for construction ( Smith 1985).

Notes — 1. Flowers have been recorded from December to January but fruit is reported to be borne throughout the year which suggests that flowering may be throughout the year also.

2. Syzygium cumini has fairly elegant and distinctive vegetative features as evidenced by the slender, elliptic leaves and straight petiole. On vegetative and inflorescence features, S. cumini is similar to S. kajewskii . Nevertheless, these two species are distinct in leaf texture, petiole straightness and in the density and number of flowers per peduncle. In S. cumini , the leaves are coriaceous, the petiole is straight and the inflorescences are closely clustered with 6–9 flowers per anthopodium. In S. kajewskii , the leaves are chartaceous, the petiole is distally somewhat curved, and the flowers are fewer with 3 per anthopodium.