Syzygium claviflorum (Roxb.) Wall. ex Steudel, Nomencl. Bot. ed. 2, 2 (1841)

Latin for 'club-shaped flower'.

Synonyms
Acmena claviflora (Roxb.) Walp.
Acmena leptantha (Wight) Walp.
Acmenosperma claviflorum (Roxb.) Kausel
Caryophyllus speciosus Blume ex Miq.
Clavimyrtus claviflora (Roxb.) Blume
Eugenia claviflora var. excavata King
Eugenia claviflora var. glandulosa King
Eugenia claviflora var. leptantha (Walp.) King
Eugenia claviflora var. maingayi (Duthie) King
Eugenia claviflora var. montana M.R.Hend.
Eugenia claviflora var. riparia M.R.Hend.
Eugenia clavata (Korth.) Merr.
Eugenia claviflorum Roxb.
Eugenia fraseri Ridl.
Eugenia leptalea Craib
Eugenia leptantha Wight
Eugenia maingayi Duthie
Eugenia rhododendrifolia Miq.
Eugenia rhododendrifolia forma longifolia Miq.
Eugenia ruminata Koord. & Valet.
Eugenia viridifolia Elmer
Jambosa borneensis Miq.
Jambosa clavata Korth.
Jambosa melanocarpa Miq.
Myrtus clavata Korth. ex Miq.
Syzygium clavatum (Korth.) Merr. & Perry
Syzygium claviflorum (Roxb.) Wall. ex Steud.
Syzygium claviflorum var. excavatum (King) I.M.Turner
Syzygium claviflorum var. glandulosum (King) Chantaran. & J.Parn.
Syzygium claviflorum var. maingayi (Duthie) Chantaran. & J.Parn.
Syzygium claviflorum var. montanum (M.R.Hend.) I.M.Turner
Syzygium claviflorum var. riparium (M.R.Hend.) I.M.Turner
Syzygium excavatum Wall.
Syzygium fraseri (Ridl.) Masam.
Syzygium leptanthum (Wight) Niedenzu
Syzygium longiflorum Wall.
Syzygium rhododendrifolium (Miq.) Masamune
Syzygium ruminatum (Koord. & Valeton) Amshoff
Syzygium suavissimum Wall.
Syzygium viridifolium (Elmer) Merr. & L.M.Perry

Diagnostics
Emergent tree up to 69 m tall and 91 cm dbh. Stipules absent. Leaves opposite, simple, penni-veined, glabrous. Flowers ca. 21 mm diameter, white-pinkish, many protruding stamens, flowers placed in panicles. Fruits ca. 11 mm long, green-red-purplish, elongate fleshy berries.

Description
Canopy tree to 69 m tall and 91 cm diameter, hardly buttressed, bark smooth with persisting oblique leaf scars to slightly patchily cracked and flaky; inner bark greyish purple. Parts hairless. Twig slender with long straight internodes, elliptic, grey-brown, smooth. Leaf blade c.10 x 4.5 (8.5-25 x 3.5-7) cm, elliptic-lanceolate, thinly leathery, margin often narrowly inrolled sometimes wavy, drying yellow-brown paler beneath, more or less densely pitted above, with pale dots beneath; base wedge shaped shortly tapering into c.8 mm stalk; acumen c.8 mm long broad acute; veins unequal with fainter more or less shorter intermediates, slender but visible on both surfaces more raised beneath, impressed above as also tertiaries, main veins c.14 pairs, indistinct above, slender but distinctly raised beneath; tertiaries visible throughout; intramarginal veins 1 pair, 1-2 mm within margin, hardly looped. Inflorescence several-axillary, usually to 1 cm long, short, slender, congested, few branched. Flower to 12(-30) x 5 mm, long, torch-shaped the pseudostalk 3x receptacle in length, slightly tapering; sepal lobes 4-5, vestigial, broadly triangular, subacute, thick to margins, becoming reflexed and caduceus at flowering forming a wavy rim; stamens many. Fruit to 20 x 12 mm, oblong-ellipsoid or occasionally spherical, drying pale straw-coloured, slightly broader towards apex, with prominent apical cavity fringed by the short sepals, ripening purplish red. [from Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak]

Ecology
In undisturbed but sometimes rather open vegetation types including mixed dipterocarp, coastal, keranga and peat-swamp forests up to 1500 m altitude. Often on alluvial sites, but also on hillsides and ridges. On poor sandy to peaty soils and ultramafic.

Uses
The timber is locally used. The edible fruits are locally conserved as a pickle.

Distribution
From northeast India and southern China to New Guinea and Australia.

Local names
Borneo: Gelam, Lenceh, Obah, Ubah.