Syzygium claviflorum

This is an evergreen tree that grows to 10-20m tall in Southeast Asia, 3-15m tall in China. The bark is often rather pale, greyish-white to greyish-brown. Flowering occurs from January to March, June and November in Cambodia and Vietname, while fruiting is in March and April, June and August. Traits used to distinguish S. claviflorum from other Szygium species in Cambodia and Vietnam are the large leaf blade (6-22 by 1.5-7.5 cm); and the long petiole (0.3-0.6 cm). ==Phylogeny==

This species is in the subgenus Perikion, for which it is the type species. At a lower level it is in a clade with siblings Syzygium apodophyllum, S. corynanthum and Syzygium canicortex. ==Distribution==

The tree grows on the Australian continent and across Wallacea, Southeast Asia to India and up to southern China. ==Habitat, ecology==

In Australia, the tree grows in well developed gallery forest and in lowland and upland rainforest on a variety of sites. On top of the plateau of Bokor National Park (Kampot Province, Cambodia, at some 1045m.a.s.l., this species grows as a shrub or small tree (2-4m tall) amongst a sclerophyllous stunted forest community on rocky soils. It is also reported as common in open bogs at between 930 and 1043m. In the Chemunji Hills, Kerala it is common along streams in evergreen forest, while in Ponmudi, Kerala, it is common in exposed rocky areas of evergreen forests. At both localities associated species are Polyalthia malabarica, Syzygium gardneri, S. lanceolatum, S. munroi, Elaeocarpus serratus var. weibelii, and Aporosa acuminata. ==Conservation==

The "Least Concern" rating by the IUCN (see infobox above) is a result of the species having a large population, a very wide distribution and no current or future major threats have been identified. ==Vernacular names==

• (="mouse droppings", alluding to the small fruits), (Khmer) • harejamun, (Sikkim). • grey satinash, satinash, trumpet, trumpet satinash, watergum (Australian English, note: grey satinash, satinash and watergum are names also applied to other taxa) ==Uses==

The wood is a useful structural timber, and in Australia is marketed under the name grey satinash. In Cambodia the fruit are eaten and the wood is good firewood for heating. In the Chittagong region of Myanmar and in Kerala and the Sikkim Himalaya, the fruit are eaten locally. ==History==

The species was described in 1841 by the German physician and botanist Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel (1783-1841), whose main work was on grasses. He published the description in the second edition of his work Nomenclator botanicus (1840-1). He was building on others work. Firstly that of Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854), the Danmark-born botanist who worked in India, who did not quite validly describe the taxa. Before that, William Roxburgh (1751-1815), a Scottish surgeon and botanist who worked in India, had described the basionym taxa, that which this present accepted taxa is based: Eugenia claviflora Roxb. This was described in 1832 in Roxburgh's posthumously published work Flora Indica; or, Descriptions of Indian Plants. ==Further reading==