Syzygium claviflorum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Syzygium claviflorum
A preserved plant sample of Syzygium claviflorum
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Tribe:	Syzygieae
Genus:	Syzygium
Species:	S. claviflorum
Binomial name
Syzygium claviflorum (Roxb.) Wall. ex Steud.
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Syzygium claviflorum is a type of tree that belongs to the Myrtaceae family. You can find it growing naturally in northern Australia and in warm, tropical parts of Asia. People use this tree for its wood, as fuel, and even as food for both humans and animals. It's also used to make dye. Sometimes, you can find smaller, stunted versions of these trees on top of the plateau in Bokor National Park in Cambodia.

About the Syzygium claviflorum Tree

This tree is an evergreen plant, meaning its leaves stay green all year round. In Southeast Asia, it usually grows to be about 10 to 20 meters (33 to 66 feet) tall. In Zhōngguó/China, it's a bit smaller, reaching 3 to 15 meters (10 to 49 feet). Trees in the North Queensland Rainforests of Australia can grow very quickly and become quite large. Their trunks can be between 180 and 270 centimeters (about 6 to 9 feet) wide!

The bark of the tree is often light in color, like grayish-white or grayish-brown. Its leaves are usually 6.5 to 13.2 cm (2.5 to 5.2 inches) long and 2.9 to 5.8 cm (1.1 to 2.3 inches) wide. If you look closely with a magnifying glass, you can see tiny oil dots on the leaves.

The flowers grow in clusters. Each flower has a tube-like base and small, rounded parts called calyx lobes. There are also 6 to 8 round petals, which are about 2 to 3 mm (0.08 to 0.12 inches) wide. These petals often stick together. The flowers also have many stamens, which are the parts that produce pollen.

The fruit of the tree can be different shapes, like a cylinder or a pear. It's about 11 to 14 mm (0.43 to 0.55 inches) long and 9 to 10 mm (0.35 to 0.39 inches) wide when it's ripe. The fruit is juicy inside. The seeds are about 7 to 8 mm (0.28 to 0.31 inches) in size.

When a seedling first starts to grow, it has a few small, simple leaves before its first true leaves appear. It takes about 38 to 95 days for the seeds to sprout.

The wood of this tree is quite dense and strong.

When the Tree Flowers and Fruits

• In Cambodia and Vietnam, the tree usually flowers from January to March, and also in June and November. It produces fruit in March, April, June, and August.
• In Zhōngguó/China, it flowers in March and April, and the fruit appears in May and June.
• In Kerala, India, it flowers and fruits from March to May.
• In the Sikkim Himalaya region, it fruits from August to October.

Where Syzygium claviflorum Grows

This tree is found in many places, from Australia all the way through Southeast Asia to India and southern Zhōngguó/China.

Here are some of the places where it grows:

• Australia: Central and northeastern Queensland, Cape York, Yermalner/Melville Island, and Bathurst Island in the Northern Territory.
• Papua New Guinea: Eastern New Guinea.
• Indonesia: West Papua, Aru Islands, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and Jawa.
• Philippines
• Malaysia: Sabah, Sarawak, and Peninsular Malaysia.
• Thailand
• Cambodia
• Vietnam
• Zhōngguó/China: Hainan and Yunnan.
• Laos
• Myanmar
• Bangladesh
• India: Andaman Islands, Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Kerala.
• Bhutan
• Eastern Himalaya
• Sri Lanka

Where the Tree Lives and Its Environment

In Australia, this tree likes to grow in lush gallery forests and rainforests, both in lowlands and on higher ground. It can be found from sea level up to 800 meters (2,625 feet) high. In Southeast Asia, it mostly lives in thick lowland forests. In Zhōngguó/China, it grows in dense or open evergreen forests in valleys and on hills, from below 100 meters (328 feet) up to 1,300 meters (4,265 feet) in elevation.

In New Guinea and the Aru Islands, you can find this tree in many different types of environments. These include oak forests, swamp forests, and even at the edges of mangrove areas. It grows from sea level up to 2,750 meters (9,022 feet) high.

In Cambodia and Vietnam, the tree is found in forests from lowlands to mountains, including primary (old-growth) and secondary (regrowing) forests, up to 1,050 meters (3,445 feet) in elevation.

On top of the plateau in Bokor National Park in Cambodia, at about 1,045 meters (3,428 feet) above sea level, this species grows as a shrub or small tree. It's part of a community of tough, stunted trees that grow on rocky soil. It's also common in open bogs at similar high elevations.

Protecting the Syzygium claviflorum Tree

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has given Syzygium claviflorum a "Least Concern" rating. This means it's not currently in danger of disappearing. This is because it has a large population and grows in many different places. No major threats have been found for the tree right now or in the future.

However, the IUCN does note that the quality and size of its natural living areas are slowly getting smaller. Also, in the Northern Territory of Australia, the government lists the plant as "Near Threatened." This is because its distribution there is limited to just Yermalner/Melville Island and Bathurst Island.

Other Names for the Tree

Note: Some of these names, like grey satinash, satinash, and watergum, are also used for other types of trees.

How People Use Syzygium claviflorum

The wood from Syzygium claviflorum is strong and useful for building things. In Australia, it's sold as grey satinash timber.

People living in the Bung Khong Long Non-Hunting Area in Nong Khai Province, Thailand, use the bark of the tree to dye their fishing nets. This helps make the nets stronger. They also feed the fruit to their cattle.

In Cambodia, people eat the fruit, and the wood makes good firewood for heating. In the Chittagong region of Myanmar, and in Kerala and the Sikkim Himalaya in India, the fruit is also eaten by local people.

History of the Tree's Name

The scientific name for this tree, Syzygium claviflorum, was officially described in 1841. This was done by a German doctor and botanist named Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel (1783-1841). He wrote about it in his book Nomenclator botanicus.

Steudel built on the work of earlier botanists:

• Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854), a botanist from Denmark who worked in India, had studied the plant but didn't quite give it a proper scientific description.
• Before Wallich, William Roxburgh (1751-1815), a Scottish surgeon and botanist also working in India, had described an earlier version of the plant's name: Eugenia claviflora Roxb. This was published in 1832 in Roxburgh's book Flora Indica; or, Descriptions of Indian Plants, which came out after he passed away.