Java apple

Java apple
	Java apple ( Syzygium samarangense )
Systematics
	Rosids
	Eurosiden II
Order :	Myrtle-like (Myrtales)
Family :	Myrtle family (Myrtaceae)
Genre :	Syzygium
Type :	Java apple
Scientific name
	Syzygium samarangense
	( Flower ), Merr. & LMPerry

The Java apple or rose apple ( Syzygium samarangense ), also from the English trivial name wax apple wax apple called, is a species of the genus Syzygium within the family of myrtle (Myrtaceae). It is grown as a fruit in the tropics and subtropics .

description

Flowers with many showy stamens

Cross section of the fruit

Vegetative characteristics

Syzygium samarangense grows as an evergreen tree with a short trunk and reaches heights of up to 10–15 meters. The bark is relatively smooth and brownish.

The opposite arranged and almost sedentary leaves are 10 to 25 centimeters long and 5 to 10 centimeters wide. The leaves are lighter underneath and ovate to lanceolate or lanceolate and with entire margins, the tip is pointed to rounded or pointed to pointed, tailed. The leaf base is rounded to slightly heart-shaped. The veins are pinnate and slightly raised underneath.

Generative characteristics

There are terminal or in the leafless leaf nodes, axillary paniculate or zymous inflorescences. Its hermaphroditic, four-fold and stalked flowers with a double flower envelope, have a diameter of about 3–4 centimeters. They are white in color and have a multitude of long stamens with white stamens. On the up to 1.5 cm large, cup-shaped and stem-like narrowed (pseudo-stemmed) flower base sit 4 round, small calyx lobes and alternating 4 larger, obovate, spreading petals. The petals and the stamens fall off early. The two-chamber ovary is inferior with a long pen with capitate stigma .

The bell-shaped or pear-shaped, bare and waxy, pseudo-fruity berry , with the calyx cavity at the top and the permanent and enlarged sepals, as well as the remains of the style, has different colors depending on the variety, from white to pale green and green to light and dark red, to a deep red bordering on black. The length of the fruits is 4 to 6 centimeters. The light, spongy and juicy flesh has a high water content. The mostly 1–2 round, brownish and flattened seeds are up to 8 millimeters in size.

The Java apple can easily be confused with the related and similar water apple ( Syzygium malaccense ); However, the latter is usually smaller and stockier.

Occurrence and use

Syzygium samarangense is native to the Malay Peninsula . Today the Java apple is grown as a fruit in many tropical and subtropical areas, especially in Malaysia , Thailand , Indonesia , the Philippines and Taiwan , but also outside of Asia. A large number of varieties were bred.

The 'Black Pearl' variety in Taiwan
White Java apples
Green Java apples
Java apple from the Dong Xuan Center in Berlin
Java apple from the Dong Xuan Center in Berlin
Java apple from the Dong Xuan Center in Berlin

literature

Schütt , Weisgerber, Schuck: Trees of the Tropics , 2006, Nikol Verlagsges., ISBN 3-937873-79-1

Web links

Commons : Java apple ( Syzygium samarangense ) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Syzygium samarangense at The Plant List.
J. Morton: Java Apple. In: Julia F. Morton: Fruits of warm climates. Miami, FL 1987, ISBN 0-9610184-1-0 , pp. 381 f, at Horticulture - Purdue University
Syzygium samarangense at Useful Tropical Plants.