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 variabile T.G.Hartley & L.M.Perry

Journal of the Arnold Arboretum Vol. 54 Part. (2): 195 (1973)

Other Literature: Hartley & Perry, Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 195 (1973)

Family: Myrtaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree (up to c. 20 m high); Bole cylindrical (c. 20 cm diam.); crooked; buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark dark brown, rough, fissured; Subrhytidome (under-bark) brown or red; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze with two layers; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze yellowish white, yellow (pale (straw-coloured), pale brown, or brownish red, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze yellow (pale (straw-coloured), brownish red, pale brown, or yellowish white, markings absent, smooth; 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 base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle, (5.0-) 8.0-12.0 cm, 3.0-5.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, sub acute or acuminate (shortly), venation pinnate, secondary veins closed, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins present; leaves lower surface green, upper surface dark green (glossy), indumentum (hairs) absent; present; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence leaf-opposed, flowers single, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 15.0-40.0 mm long, diameter large (more than10 mm diam.) (c. 15 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white or greenish yellow; 4, 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 arranged on branched axis, fruit 15.0 (c.) mm long, 10.0 (c.) mm diam., white, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long, not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 8 mm diam.).

Distribution: Morobe, Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands & Milne Bay.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: Notes The size and colour of mature fruits is based on a few collections and, at least, some of these are probably immature.