Syzygium laetum (Buch. – Ham.) Gandhi (MYRTACEAE)
Description: Trees up to 10 meters tall; bark smooth, white. Leaves opposite, ovate or elliptic, up to 11.5 x 5 cm, narrowed at base, acuminate at apex, glabrous. Flowers in few-flowered, ca 5 cm across cymes. Calyx tube narrow narrowly conical, lobes 4. Petals 4, orbicular, ca 1.5 cm across, white. Staminal disc thick. The stamens are numerous, vibrant crimson, extending well beyond the petals. The berries are ovoid, approximately 2.5 cm in diameter, dark brown, and crowned by persistent calyx lobes.
Flowering & Fruiting : December – May.
Distribution: India: In evergreen forests of Western Ghats. Maharashtra and Karnataka. Endemic.
Uses: The wood is a good structural timber.
