Barry Conn (NSW) & Kipiro Damas (LAE).
Guide to trees of Papua New Guinea
Copyright held by the authors, National Herbarium of New South Wales, and Papua New Guinea National Herbarium

Syzygium buettnerianum Nied.

in Engler & Prantl, Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien Vol. 3 Part. 7: 85 (1893)

Other Literature: B.P.M. Hyland, Australian Journal of Botany 62-64 (1983) Fig. 19.

Family: Myrtaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Major exportable hardwood

Field Characters: Occasionally Emergent tree, Large canopy tree (20-50 m high), or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (up to c. 100 cm diam.); straight (bole 12-30 m long); buttresses buttresses present (buttresses up to 1.5 m high); spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark brownish red or reddish brown, slightly rough, scaly or flaky (papery); Subrhytidome (under-bark) green; less than 25 mm thick (c. 12 mm), (5.0-) 10.0-14.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze red or brown, markings absent, fibrous or granular without splinters; inner blaze red or brown (gradually becoming slightly paler towards sapwood than outer blaze layer), markings absent, granular without splinters or fibrous; bark exudate (sap) absent; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) absent.

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches, opposite (in pairs, opposite one another on the branchlet), simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole present, not winged, attached to surface of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle, 7.0-14.0 cm, 3.0-6.5 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins closed, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface dull green, upper surface dark green (glossy), indumentum (hairs) absent; present; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, flowers on a branched axis (with axes of inflorescence scaly), cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 6.0-9.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth pink, dark red, or purple; 5, free; stamens 100, present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary inferior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence single, fruit (13.0-) 15.0-20.0 mm long, 13.0-20.0 mm diam., dark red or black, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long (7-15 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed more than 10 mm diam. (7-15 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Southern Highlands, Western, Central & Northern.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

.