Syzygium samarangense 

Syzygium samarangense (Blume) Merr. & L.M.Perry

Family       : Myrtaceae

Common Name : ചാമ്പ(Mal)

: जमरूल (Hin)

: Wax apple(Eng)

IUCN Status : Least concern (LC)-

Wax Apple is a tropical tree growing to 12 m tall, with evergreen leaves 10-25 cm long and 5-10 cm broad. They are nearly stalkless, elliptic- oblong, rounded or slightly heart-shaped at the base, yellowish to dark bluish-green. The flowers are white, 2.5 cm diameter, with four petals and numerous long stamens. The fruit is a bell-shaped edible berry, with colors ranging from white, pale green, green, red, purple, crimson, to deep purple or even black, 4-6 cm long in wild plants. The flowers and resulting fruit are not limited to the axils of the leaves and can appear on nearly any point on the surface of the trunk and branches. When mature, the tree is considered a heavy bearer and can yield a crop of up to 700 fruits. The tree is indigenous from Malaya to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where there are wild trees in the coastal forests.

It is a tropical tree growing to 12 m tall, with evergreen leaves 10–25 cm long and 5–10 cm broad. The leaves are elliptical, but rounded at the base; they are aromatic when crushed. The trunk is relatively short, with a wide yet open crown starting low on the tree. The bark is pinkish gray in color, and flakes readily. The flowers are white to yellowish-white, 2.5 cm diameter, with four petals and numerous stamens. They form in panicles of between three and 30 near branch tips. The resulting fruit is a bell-shaped, edible berry, with colors ranging from white, pale green, or green to red, purple, or crimson, to deep purple or even black. The fruit grows 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in) long in wild plants, and has four fleshy calyx lobes at the tip. The skin is thin, and the flesh is white and spongy. Each berry holds one or two rounded seeds not larger than .8 cm (0.3 in). The flowers and resulting fruit are not limited to the axils of the leaves, and can appear on nearly any point on the surface of the trunk and branches. When mature, the tree is considered a heavy bearer, yielding up to 700 fruits in a crop

Use: Fruit is edible, the value added products like jams, jellies, candies, juice, wine and vinegar can be obtained from the fruit.

Distribution : North East India, Malesia to Solomon Islands, widely introduced elsewhere.

Flowering & Fruiting : February-June