Syzygium richii (A.Gray) Merr. & L.M.Perry

Tuiwawa, S. H., Craven, L. A., Sam, C. & Crisp, M. D., 2013, The genus Syzygium (Myrtaceae) in Vanuatu, Blumea 58 (1), pp. 53-67 : 63

15. Syzygium richii (A.Gray) Merr. & L.M.Perry

Syzygium richii (A.Gray) Merr. & L.M.Perry (1942b) 77. — Eugenia richii A.Gray (in Gray & Wilkes 1854:510).— Jambosa richii (A.Gray) Müll.Berol. (1858) 849.— Typus (fide Smith 1985, as holotype): U.S. Expl. Exped.s.n. (lecto US n.v.;?iso GH n.v.), Fiji, 1840.

Tree up to 10 m tall. Vegetative branchlets winged, 4–6 mm diam; bark dull, smooth, not glandular-verrucose, persistent. Leaf lamina up to 23.5 by 13.2 cm, broadly elliptic; base symmetric, cordate; apex rounded to acute, acumen flat; margin undulate; chartaceous; drying reddish brown above; primary vein (midrib) c. 2 mm wide; secondary veins open, 10–15 each side of primary vein, c. 4 cm apart; intramarginal vein strongly arched, 4–7 mm from the margin at the lamina midpoint; secondary intramarginal vein weakly arched; tertiary intramarginal vein absent; oil dots present, not visible to the unaided eye in transmitted light, small, dense. Petiole c. 12 mm long, adaxially strongly grooved. Inflorescence terminal, cymose panicle, up to 5 by 8.5 cm, 1–3 flowers per anthopodium; hypopodium c. 10 mm long; main inflorescence axis up to 3 mm wide, winged, dull, smooth; bracts persisting, c. 2 mm long. Hypanthium not stipitate; obconical, up to 2.8 by 2 cm, dull, not visibly gland dotted; smooth. Sepals 4, c. 6 by 10 mm, semicircular, persistent, free. Petals c. 5, deciduous, not coherent, circular, up to 1.4 by 1.1 cm, visibly gland dotted, margin lacerate. Stamens many, more than 50, outermost stamens up to 3.5 cm long; filament free, yellow; anther sacs narrowly elliptic. Style up to 3.5 cm long. Fruit yellow, smooth, plane, barrel-shaped, c. 3 by 2.1 cm.

Distribution & Ecology — Vanuatu (Malampa province: Paama; Penama province: Pentecost; Shefa province: Efate; Tafea province: Aneityum,Aniwa, Erromango, Tanna). Syzygium richii occurs in Fiji and Vanuatu and in the latter it frequently occurs in the shoreline/coastal strand vegetation and has also been collected in lowland secondary forest up to 100–300 m asl.

Vernacular names — Gavigaganatanata (Banks Islands); kavika andemat is interpreted as ‘kavika of the devil’ (Paama island) because of the inedible and sour taste of the fruit.

Uses — Hardwood that is used as ground posts; the fruit is inedible.

Notes — 1. Flowers and fruits have been recorded throughout the year.

2. Syzygium richii is largely a coastal species that occupies similar habitats in Fiji and Vanuatu.

3. Syzygium richii has been mistakenly identified as S. flabellum because of the similarities in leaf and hypanthium size and shape. These species are different in that S. richii has winged vegetative branchlets, the leaf base is cordate, the petiole c. 12 mm long and the hypanthium white, obconical and up to 2.8 by 2 cm. For S. flabellum the vegetative branchlets are terete, the leaf base truncate, the petiole up to 3.5 cm long and the hypanthium yellow, campanulate and up to 2.5 by 2.3 cm. For a comparison with S. samarangense , see under that species.

4. Smith (1985) cited the US specimen of the collection U.S. Expl. Exped. s.n. ( Fiji, 1840) as holotype of E. richii . However, Gray ( Gray & Wilkes 1854) did not designate a holotype specimen and the US material is more appropriately regarded as the lectotype of the name.