Syzygium malaccense (L.) Merr. & Perry

പനിനീർചാമ്പ

Family
:
Myrtaceae
Synonym
:
Eugenia malaccensis L.
Common Names
:
Macopa, Pomarosa
Flowering Period
:
February – June
Distribution
:
Native of Malaysia, cultivated in other parts of Tropical Asia
Habitat
:
Cultivated
Habit
:
Tree
Uses
:

Fruit - usually eaten raw. An infusion of the bark is used to treat tuberculosis, mouth infections, stomach ache and abdominal ailments. The bark is used to cure mouth sores in children. The leaves are used to treat red eyes. A reddish brown dye for making patterns on tapa bark cloth, can be processed from the bark and the root. 

Key Characters
:

Syzygium malaccense are trees with bark grey-brown, smooth. Leaves simple, opposite, estipulate; lamina elliptic. Flowers bisexual, large; calyx; lobes round, unequal; petals large, glandular, suborbicular; stamens many, bent inwards in middle when in bud; ovary inferior, 2-celled, ovules many; style long. Fruit a berry, large, reddish pink.