''Syzygium guineense'' () is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

leafy forest tree of the family

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae (), the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...

, found in many parts of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

both wild and domesticated. Both its fruits and leaves are edible; the pulp and the fruit skin are sucked and the seed discarded. It is sometimes called "waterberry", but this may also refer to other species of ''

Syzygium ''Syzygium'' () is a genus of flowering plants that belongs to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The genus comprises about 1200 species, and has a native range that extends from Africa and Madagascar through southern Asia east through the Pacific. I ...

''.

Description

''Syzygium guineense'' can grow as a tree, a shrub, or a pyrophytic subshrub, depending on its habitat. As a tree its height is usually between 10 and 15 meters, but some specimens have been found as tall as 25 meters. The trunk is broad and fluted and the crown rounded and heavy, with a bark that is smooth when young, but becomes rough and black with age. The branches are dropping, the stems are thick and angular. The young leaves are purple-red in color, but as they mature their color becomes dark green; the leaves in general are shiny and smooth on both surfaces, with a tip that is long but rounded, on a short grooved stalk. The flowers of ''S. guineense'' have white, showy stamens, in dense branched heads 10 centimeters across, yielding a honey-sweet smell that attracts many insects.

Range and habitat

''Syzygium guineense'' ranges widely through sub-Saharan Africa, and is also present in the southwestern Arabian Peninsula. It grows in a range of habitats, including lowland and montane forests, forest edges, woodlands, humid savannas, swamps, and mangrove edges, from sea level up to 2,500 meters elevation. It prefers moist soils with a high water table beside rivers, but will also grow in open woodland."Wild Food" Plans with "Famine Foods" Components: Syzgium guineense
(Famine Food Guide website)

Uses

In southern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

''S. guineense'' is a much-appreciated shade tree for both the homestead and the home garden. It is considered a

famine food A famine food or poverty food is any inexpensive or ready available food used to nourish people in times of hunger and starvation, whether caused by extreme poverty, such as during economic depression or war, or by natural disasters such as dro ...

, eaten by

subsistence farmers Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occu ...

when their crops fail.

Classification

''Syzygium guineense'' is a highly variable species, leading to debate concerning its taxonomy, including its subspecies. Frank White lists four subspecies: ''afromontanum'', ''barotsense'', ''guineense'', and ''huillense'', the last of which is a suffrutex. However, many other subspecies and varieties have been proposed. White identified three other subspecies – ''bamendae, obovatum'', and ''occidentale'' – which

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

considers a separate species, '' Syzygium staudtii''.''Syzygium staudtii'' (Engl.) Mildbr.
''

''. Accessed 30 March 2023.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3644516 Flora of the Afrotropical realm Afromontane flora Fruits originating in Africa Trees of Africa guineense