Syzygium zeylanicum (L.) DC.

പൂച്ചപ്പഴം

Family : MYRTACEAE

Synonym :

Eugenia zeylanica (L.) Wight

Common Names : Chaliyakkani, Kattuvayanilla, Poochappazham, Pula, Velutthakanali

Flowering Period : January-April

Distribution : Indo-Malesia

Habitat : Banks of streams in evergreen forests, also in scrub jungles

Uses : A black dye is obtained from the bark.

Key Characters :

Large shrub to small trees, to 10 m high, bark black.. Leaves simple, opposite, estipulate; petiole 3-8 mm long, stout, grooved above, glabrous; lamina 2.4-9.5 x 0.8-5.5 cm, elliptic-lanceolate, linear-lanceolate, ovate, ovate-lanceolate or oblong, base obtuse, round or acute, apex acute or acuminate, margin entire, pellucid dotted, glabrous, glossy, coriaceous; lateral nerves many, parallel, looped near the margin forming intramarginal nerve, prominent, intercostae reticulate, slender, faint. Flowers bisexual, in axillary and terminal cymes, small, white; peduncle 4-6 mm long; pedicel 3-4 mm long, slender; calyx tube campanulate, greyish, gland-dotted, 25-30 mm long; lobes 5, 1 mm long, ovate; petals 5, 1.5-2 mm long, free, deciduous, white; stamens many, free, bent inwards at the middle when in bud; filament 4-6 mm long; no thickened staminal disc; ovary inferior, 2-celled, ovules many; style 1, 4-6 mm long; stigma simple. Fruit a berry, 6-12 mm long, white, gland-dotted, crowned with calyx segments.