Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Syzygium oleosum

Flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Flowers, spent flowers, and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, Australian Tropical Rainforest key, photographer unknown, unknown place

Fruiting branch. Photographer Tony Rodd, North Entrance

Common name

Blue lilly pilly, Blue cherry, Scented satinash

Family

Myrtaceae

Where found

Rainforest and along streams. North from west of Nowra. Coast and ranges.

Notes

Shrub or tree to 15 m tall. Fruit somewhat fleshy. Bark flaky or scaly, reddish brown. Branchlets cylindrical to 4-angled in cross section, with no pockets or lumps at the nodes. Hairless. Leaves very aromatic and sticky when rubbed, opposite each other, 3–12 cm long, 10–40 mm wide, tips usually long-pointed, surfaces hairless, upper surface green and glossy, lower surface paler; lateral veins faint, oil glands numerous, rather large and readily visible to the naked eye. Flowers with 4 white petals, each 2–3.5 mm long. Stamens white, 6–15 mm long. Hypanthium about 2-4.5 mm in diameter. Flowers in branched clusters. Flowers Nov.–Aug. Fruit magenta to purple-red turning blue to bluish purple, oval to flattened round, 13-40 mm in diameter.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Syzygium~oleosum (accessed 14 April 2021)