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Magenta Lillypilly
Syzygium paniculatum
Family: Myrtaceae
Conservation Status
Vulnerable species in NSW (TSC Act). Also listed as a vulnerable species at national level in the Endangered Species Protection Act.
Distribution
Grows naturally at widely separated localities in coastal areas between Bulahdelah and Jervis Bay (Harden 1991). It has been recorded in Booti Booti National Park, Myall Lakes National Park, Wamberal Lagoon Nature Reserve, Wyrrabalong National Park, Captain Cooks Landing Place Historic Site and Jervis Bay National Park (Briggs and Leigh 1996).
Although rare in the wild, it is a popular ornamental species and is widely cultivated in the Sydney region (Benson and McDougall 1998). There may be some confusion over the name Syzygium paniculatum because in the past it was also applied to another, more common species now known as Syzygium australe (Brush Cherry), e.g. Floyd (1979).
Pittwater Population
In Pittwater, reported from Browns Bay (Cunningham 1994a), Scotland Island (Cunningham 1994a), Irrawong Reserve (Cunningham 1994b), and Hillside Road, Newport (Burcher 1999).
Habitat
Syzygium paniculatum typically grows in littoral (beach) rainforest on coastal sand dunes or in gallery (watercourse) rainforest on alluvial soils (Benson and McDougall 1998). However, it also grows in other rainforest types and in wetter eucalypt forest types. At Irrawong Reserve, it grows in alluvial Swamp Mahogany Eucalyptus robusta forest along Mullet Creek (Cunningham 1994b). Elsewhere in Pittwater it has been recorded growing on moist slopes on Narrabeen Group geology.
Ecology
Syzygium paniculatum varies in size from a shrub to a medium-sized tree. The trees live for 75-200 years. They produce flowers in December-January and are able to self-pollinate. Fruits are purple fleshy berries.
Trees fruit irregularly, perhaps every second year. Fruits are dispersed locally by gravity and possibly more widely by birds and mammals, such as the Pied Currawong and Grey-headed Flying Fox, both of which are known to eat the fruit. Each fruit can produce multiple seedlings.
Seeds are viable for less than three months and germinate readily without treatment. Seedlings found under adult plants are possibly short-lived. Syzygium paniculatum tolerates shade but needs light for regeneration. Trees may be killed by wildfire or may resprout from the base or epicormic shoots (Benson and McDougall 1998).
Management Issues
- Conservation of remnant bushland
- Habitat degradation in remnant bushland
- Fire management
- Preservation of remnant individuals in urban areas
- Translocation (as an alternative to conservation in situ)
- Loss of genetic integrity of the Pittwater population through interbreeding with planted specimens from other regions
- Unauthorised collection of plant material
- Community education
- Lack of knowledge of the species
- Recovery plan (no plan has yet been prepared for this species)
Updated: 06 Dec 2011