Syzygium decipiens (PROSEA)
Introduction |
Syzygium decipiens (Koord. & Valeton) Merr. & Perry
- Protologue: Journ. Arn. Arb. 23: 281 (1942).
Synonyms
Eugenia decipiens Koord. & Valeton (1900), Syzygium megalanthelium Diels (1924), Syzygium rectangulare Merr. & Perry (1942).
Vernacular names
- Indonesia: ki tambaga (Sundanese, Java)
- Philippines: malaruhat-pula (Tagalog).
Distribution
Western Java, the Philippines (Luzon), the Aru Islands, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Uses
The timber is used for house construction, furniture and implements.
Observations
A medium-sized tree up to 25 m tall, bole up to 50 cm in diameter, sometimes with small buttresses, bark surface somewhat flaky, reddish-brown or greyish-brown; leaves elliptical to lanceolate, 7-14 cm × 3-5.5 cm, with numerous, closely spaced, indistinct secondary veins, petiole 5-10 mm long; flowers in large, profusely branched panicles on branches, pinkish, calyx up to 5 mm long, shortly or obscurely 4-toothed; fruit depressed globose, up to 15 mm in diameter, dark purple when ripe. S. decipiens occurs in humid primary forest in the lowlands, in New Guinea especially on the fringes of flooded forest of river plains, in Java up to 1300 m altitude. The wood is pale to dark reddish-brown, heavy and hard.
Selected sources
36, 221, 303, 414, 426, 430.