Syzygium attenuatum (Miq.) Merr. & Perry, Mem. Amer. Ac. 18 (1939)
Latin for 'slender', referring to the leaf tip.Synonyms
Eugenia attenuata (Miq.) Koord. & Valet.
Eugenia attenuata var. montana M.R.Hend.
Eugenia attenuata var. ophirensis M.R.Hend.
Eugenia penangiana Duthie
Eugenia purpuricarpa Elmer
Jambosa attenuata Miq.
Syzygium attenuatum var. montanum (M.R.Hend.) Chantaran. & J.Parn.
Syzygium attenuatum var. ophirense (M.R.Hend.) I.M.Turner
Diagnostics
Mid-canopy tree up to 37 m tall and 61 cm dbh. Stipules absent. Leaves
opposite, simple, penni-veined with marginal vein, venation barely visible,
glabrous. Flowers ca. 8 mm diameter, white-yellow-purple, with protruding
stamens, flowers placed in panicles. Fruits ca. 9 mm diameter, green-white-red,
fleshy berries.
Description
Small understorey tree; bark orange- or red-brown, becoming coarsely papery scaly; inner bark
red-brown. Parts hairless. Twig slender, round, pale brown, smooth. Leaf blade c.7 x 3.5(5-11 x
1.5-6) cm, small, elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, drying dull greenish- to red-brown; base
wedge-shaped, tapering into c.1 cm slender stalk, apex c.1.5 cm caudate; densely somewhat
obscurely pitted above, distinctly densely dotted beneath; venation more or less obscure,
hardly raised on either surface, veins subequal, c. 25 pairs, spreading, intramarginal vein
close to margin, hardly arched. Panicle 5-terminal, 5 cm long, slender, 2-branched. Flowers
densely clustered; bud 8 x 2 mm, torch-shaped, slender, tapering from apex to base with unclear
pseudostalk, with almost even obscurely 4-toothed calyx rim, drying wrinkled pale yellow grey;
corolla flat, more or less hidden within calyx; stamens many. Fruit 10 x 5 mm, relatively small,
ellipsoid, dull, smooth, with shallow calyx rim, drying pale buff, ripening dark red, often milky
at first. [from Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak]
Ecology
In undisturbed mixed dipterocarp and sub-montane forests up to 1900 m
altitude. Mostly on ridges with sandy soils.
Distribution
Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Philippines, Celebes.
Local names
Borneo: Buah bersalung, Obah, Obar, Ubah.
