Syzygium aqueum (Burm.f.) Alston

ചാമ്പ

Family : MYRTACEAE

Synonym : Eugenia aquea Burm.f.

Common Names : Chamba, Panineer jamba, Jamba, Jambakka, Bell fruit, Watery rose-apple, Water apple, Water cherry

Flowering Period : December – June

Distribution : Malaysia

Habitat : Cultivated

Uses : Fruits edible. Various parts of the tree are used in traditional medicine, and some have in fact been shown to possess antibiotic activity. The dried leaves are eaten with vegetables, or the fresh leaves are eaten raw, as a treatment for malaria and pneumonia. An infusion of the leaves is used in the treatment of stomach aches and dysentery.

Key Characters :

Trees, to 6 m high, bark tawny-brown. Leaves simple, opposite, elliptic-obovate, margin entire, glabrous, gland-dotted. Flowers bisexual, pinkish-white, in terminal or subterminal axillary cymes. Calyx tube funnel shaped; lobes 5, ovate. Petals 5, oblong, obtuse, concave. Stamens many, inflexed in bud; filaments brilliantly pink; anthers white. Ovary inferior, ovules many. Fruit a berry, globose, pink-red.