Syzygium paniculatum (Tropical cherry eugenia)

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Syzygium paniculatum Gaertn.

Tropical cherry eugenia, magenta lilly pilly, magenta cherry, brush cherry

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Rosidae	Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more
Order	Myrtales	Includes myrtles, leadwoods, loosestrifes, pomegranates, evening primroses, many others
Family	Myrtaceae	Myrtle family, include myrtle, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus
Genus	Syzygium	From the Greek syzygos, “coupled, joined, united”
Species	paniculatum	With flowers in panicles

About plant names...

Tropical cherry eugenia—or, if you prefer, the marvelously silly Australian name “magenta lilly pilly”—is a bushy rainforest tree from New South Wales. The latter name derives from the related and similar lillypilly (Acmena smithii), another rainforest species. Tropical cherry eugenia is considered a vulnerable species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999. One source says these are native to Florida, but I speculate that they are naturalized there, not native. This species make a great bonsai. Crossword puzzle fanatics take note: syzygy is the only word in the dictionary with three ys and no other vowels.

Identification: This is a tropical rain forest species, a shrub or small tree up to 12' (3.7 m) tall and up to 15' (4.6 m) around, with flaky bark. Leaves are opposite, lanceolate or elliptic, up to 2" (5 cm) long, and reddish when young, turning bright, shiny green. Showy white flowers resembling pom poms become magenta-colored ovoid fruits up to ¾" (2 cm) long.

Online References:

The Australian Native Plants Society

The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

Wikipedia

Hort.ifas.ufl.edu

The Encyclopedia of Stanford Trees, Shrubs and Vines

Bonsai. · 12/12/2016 · Bonsai West, Littleton, Massachusetts
≈ 15 × 14" (37 × 34 cm)

Bonsai. · 12/12/2016 · Bonsai West, Littleton, Massachusetts
≈ 15 × 14" (38 × 34 cm)

Eugenia myrtifolia Sims

Syzygium paniculatum description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

Bonsai. · 12/12/2016 · Bonsai West, Littleton, Massachusetts
≈ 12 × 8" (31 × 20 cm)

Bonsai. · 12/12/2016 · Bonsai West, Littleton, Massachusetts
≈ 14 × 14" (34 × 36 cm)

Bonsai. · 12/12/2016 · Bonsai West, Littleton, Massachusetts
≈ 12 × 10" (31 × 26 cm)

Bonsai. · 12/12/2016 · Bonsai West, Littleton, Massachusetts
≈ 15 × 13" (38 × 32 cm)

Range: Zones 10-11:

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