Waterhousea floribunda

(F.Muell.) B. Hyland

Weeping lillipilli, Weeping Myrtle

Myrtaceae Edible: Fruit

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Description

An evergreen tree. It grows up to 30 m tall. It spreads to 5 m across. The stem is erect. The bark is deeply furrowed with cracks. The branches hang downwards. The leaves are shiny green. They are 16 cm long and taper towards the tip. The leaves have one or two veins around the edge of the leaf. The flowers are white and fluffy and 1.2 cm across. They occur in large clusters near the ends of branches. The fruit are round and 2 cm across.

Edible Uses

The round fruits are eaten.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It occurs in New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. In tropical Queensland it grows from 80-900 m altitude. It grows on light to medium soils. The soils need to be well drained. It requires a moist, protected and partly shaded position. Melbourne Botanical gardens. Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens. In Townsville palmetum.

Where It Grows

Australia*,

Cultivation

Plants are grown from fresh seed. They can also be grown from tip cuttings.

Production

Flowering is in September to december and fruit are ripe from November to January.

Notes

Some sources have this as Syzygium floribundum.

Synonyms

Eugenia ventenatii F. Muell.Syzygium floribunda Benth.

References (9)

Austral. J. Bot., suppl. 9:139. 1983
Bodkin, F., 1991, Encyclopedia Botanica. Cornstalk publishing, p 963 (As Syzygium floribundum)
Cherikoff V. & Isaacs, J., The Bush Food Handbook. How to gather, grow, process and cook Australian Wild Foods. Ti Tree Press, Australia p 197 (As Syzygium floribundum)
Cooper, W. and Cooper, W., 2004, Fruits of the Australian Tropical Rainforest. Nokomis Editions, Victoria, Australia. p 371
Cronin, L., 1989, The Concise Australian Flora. Reed. p 142 (As Syzygium floribundum)

Show all 9 references

Hibbert, M., 2002, The Aussie Plant Finder 2002, Florilegium. p 296, 308
Lord, E.E., & Willis, J.H., 1999, Shrubs and Trees for Australian gardens. Lothian. p 21 (As Syzygium floribundum)
Nicholson, N & H., 1996, Australian Rainforest Plants 2, Terania Rainforest Publishing. NSW. p 65
Townsend, K., 1994, Across the Top. Gardening with Australian Plants in the tropics. Society for Growing Australian Plants, Townsville Branch Inc. p 363