Syzygium 
Endemic to the Top End; from Melville Is. to Gove 
Peninsula. Reasonably common in the DR. In 
rainforests on perennial streams associated with 
sandstone; rarely on clay soils. 
S. nervosum DC. 
Cleistocalyx operculatus (Roxb.) Merr. & L.M.Perry 
Syzygium operculatum (Roxb.) Niedenzu 
Tree to 25 m high; buttressed; bark grey to brown, 
smooth, shedding in rounded plates. Petioles reddish 
in fresh state, drying dark brown, cylindrical, 8-17 
mm long. Leaf blades elliptic, 90-190 mm long, 38- 
62 mm wide; base obtuse, margin often undulate, 
acuminate. Inflorescence on previous seasons (woody) 
twigs; to 70 mm long, secondary branches at + right 
angles to primary branch; bracts deciduous. Flowers 
4-merous; buds sessile, articulate on short peduncles, 
turbinate, c. 4.5 mm long. Hypanthium c. 3 mm long, 
3-4.5 mm wide. Calyx and corolla shed at anthesis as 
a mucronate calyptra. Stamens c. 4 mm long. Fruit 
purple, + globular, c. 10 mm diam. Flowering: Aug - 
Nov; fruiting: Dec - Feb. Fig. 55 
Widespread from India to northern Australia; in 
Australia from the Kimberley to Groote Eylandt. In 
permanently wet rainforests on clayey soils; for 
example, Holmes Jungle and other spring jungles on 
the margins of the coastal plains. 
MYRTACEAE 179 
S. suborbiculare (Benth.) T.G.Hartley & L.M.Perry 
Eugenia suborbicularis Benth. 
Tree to 14 m, usually less than 10 m; rhizomatous, 
occasionally forming clonal patches and flowering 
less than 1 m high; bark grey and smooth. Petioles 
reddish in fresh state, 13-25 mm long. Leaf blades 
dark green, shiny above, discolorous, broadly 
elliptic to orbicular, 95-175 mm long, 75-120 mm 
wide. Inflorescence terminal, often reduced and few 
flowered. Flowers 4-merous; pedicels c. 6 mm long; 
buds pyriform, 27-30 mm long. Hypanthium 13-18 
mm long, 12-17 mm wide. Sepals semi-circular, 
6.5-10 mm long. Petals orbicular, c. 20 mm long. 
Stamens 13-48 mm long. Fruit red, + globular, ribbed, 
30-70 mm long. Flowering: July - Oct; fruiting: Nov 
- Dec. Fig. 55 Red Bush Apple 
Tropical Australia and New Guinea. Widespread 
and common through the savanna; prominent on 
the margins of the coastal floodplains in sandy 
soils. This species is not always readily separated 
from S. eucalyptoides subsp. bleeseri in dried 
specimens. Populations from coastal dunes on 
Melville Is. and similar habitats across the north 
coast differ from the normal form in having dull 
leaves and smooth white fruit with a pink blush. 
They are reputedly of better eating quality than the 
common form. 
VERTICORDIA DC. 
Evergreen shrubs. Leaves sessile, decussate or whorled, linear. Inflorescence of solitary axillary flowers 
clustered at the ends of the branchlets. Pedicels expanded at the apex forming a concave receptacle edged with 
a whorl of short, rigid, russet hairs. Bracteoles brownish, enveloping the buds, deciduous, semicircular, 
concave with a prominent subapical mucro. Buds globular. Hypanthium strongly glandular punctate, 
indistinctly ribbed. Perianth 5-merous. Sepals free, white, deeply and finely laciniate. Petals fused at the base 
to form a tube; lobes white. Stamens 10, alternating with 10 staminodes, inserted at the base of the corolla 
lobes, fused for 1/2 their length into a tube. Stigma subtended by a ring of long hairs. Fruit dry, indehiscent, 
similar in size and shape to the flower. Seed solitary. 
Australian endemic genus of c. 54 species concentrated in south western WA; 3 in the NT, 2 in the DR. All 
NT species are included in this Flora. [Byrnes, 1977b] 
1. Leaves <3 mm long V. decussata 
[ae cavesy=1 Olmmllongetermtner teercctcttresentet tener ttetetretettrsrretterrstrcerttn tt eT 2 
2. Leaves verticillate; style 8-10 mm long 
28 Leaves decussate; style 6-7 mm long 
V. verticillata 
V. cunninghamii 
V. cunninghamii Schauer 
Shrub to 4 m, glabrous. Leaves decussate, ascend- 
ing, adaxial surface grooved, + semicircular in cross 
section, 10-15 mm long, c. 0.5:mm wide. Pedicels c. 
7 mm long. Bracteoles c. 4 mm long. Buds c. 4 mm 
long. Hypanthium 2-2.5 mm long, c. 2.5 mm wide. 
Sepals c. 5 mm long. Petaline tube c. 1.5 mm long; 
lobes elliptic, 3-3.5 mm long, margins irregularly 
