Syzygium malaccense
Syzygium malaccense
- Common name
- Manzana de agua
- Scientific name
- Syzygium malaccense
- Genus
- Syzygium
- Family
- Myrtaceae
- Origin in Costa Rica
- Introduced · tropical Asia and the southwest Pacific (Indochina to Vanuatu)
- Coordinates
- ≈ 10.38842, -84.57552
- Approximate height
- ≈ 15 m
- Record date
- 2026-09-29
- Global conservation · IUCN
- Least Concern · LC
Natural history
Malay apple, Syzygium malaccense, belongs to Myrtaceae. It is native to a broad arc of tropical Asia and the southwest Pacific, from Indochina to Vanuatu. Kew records it as introduced in Costa Rica. This tree in Chachagua is therefore part of a history of cultivated plants in motion.
Its leaves are opposite, broad and glossy. Flowers with many stamens forming a reddish brush may open on the upper trunk and already woody branches. Fleshy fruits follow, with a short life after harvest: a relationship between architecture, flowering and food that cannot be read in a single glance.
The gallery individual shows a dense crown, foliage at several levels and other plants growing on its trunk. The fruit observation widens the view from the wood that bears flowers to the flesh and skin that define its harvest.