Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 69(2): 201-210. 2017 
doi: 10.26492/gbs69(2).2017-05 
201 
Syzygium jiewhoei (Myrtaceae), a new endemic tree 
from Western New Guinea, Indonesia 
G.G. Hambali 12 , S. Sunarti 3 & Y.W. Low 4 - 5 - 6 
‘Taman Buah Mekarsari, Cileungsi, Bogor, Indonesia 
2 Yatazawa R & D Gardens, Bogor, Indonesia 
gregham2010 @ yahoo.com 
3 Herbarium Bogoriense, Research Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Science, 
Jl. Raya Jakarta-Bogor KM 46, Cibinong, 16911, Bogor, Indonesia 
4 Herbarium, Singapore Botanic Gardens, National Parks Board, 
1 Cluny Road, 259569 Singapore 
Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, 
Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, UK 
6 School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, 
AB24 3UU Aberdeen, UK 
ABSTRACT. Syzygium jiewhoei Hambali, Sunarti & Y.W.Low, a new species from Western 
New Guinea, Indonesia, is described and illustrated. It is closely related to Syzygium 
recurvovenosum (Lauterb.) Diels but differs in a range of vegetative and reproductive 
morphological characteristics. 
Keywords. East Malesia, Papua Province, Sahul shelf, Syzygium recurvovenosum 
Introduction 
New Guinea, the largest tropical island in the world, is located in the Malesian region 
with an area of approximately 800,000 km 2 . Politically, it is divided into two roughly 
equal halves: to the east is Papua New Guinea and to the west is Indonesian New 
Guinea, comprising the provinces of Papua and West Papua. Biogeographically, New 
Guinea is part of the Sahul shelf, that also includes Australia and Tasmania, and these 
regions share similar floristic elements that are distinct from those on the Sunda shelf 
(Gressitt, 1982; Pieters, 1982). Hence, the phytogeography of the Malesian region 
has been a focus of research by tropical botanists (Van Steenis, 1950; Van Welzen et 
al., 2011; Crayn et al., 2015). A comprehensive Flora of New Guinea is still lacking. 
However, efforts by various botanical institutions have led to checklists, guides and 
monographs of selected plant groups, such as the orchids (Schuiteman & de Vogel, 
2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008; Schuiteman et al., 2010), palms (Heatubun, 2002; 
Baker & Dransfield, 2006; Heatubun et al., 2012), and alpine plants (Van Royen, 
1979a, 1979b, 1982, 1983; Johns et al., 2006), etc. 
Syzygium Gaertn. is one of the largest genera in the world, with about 1200- 
1800 species occurring principally in the Old World (Frodin, 2004; Parnell et al., 
2007; Syzygium Working Group, 2016). A recent analysis reveals that Syzygium is 
