Eugenia

Eugenia
Eugenia sprengelii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Subfamily:	Myrtoideae
Tribe:	Myrteae[1]
Genus:	Eugenia L.
Species
About 1,000; see text

Eugenia is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It has a worldwide, although highly uneven, distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. The bulk of the approximately 1,000 species occur in the New World tropics, especially in the northern Andes, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Forest (coastal forests) of eastern Brazil. Other centers of diversity include New Caledonia and Madagascar. Many species new to science have been and are in the process of being described from these regions. For example, 37 new species of Eugenia have been described from Mesoamerica in the past few years. At least 20 new species are currently in the process of being described from New Caledonia, and approximately the same number of species new to science may occur in Madagascar. Despite the enormous ecological importance of the myrtle family in Australia (e.g. Eucalyptus, Corymbia, Angophora, Melaleuca, Callistemon, Rhodamnia, Gossia), only one species of Eugenia, E. reinwardtiana, occurs on that continent. The genus also is represented in Africa south of the Sahara, but it is relatively species-poor on that continent. In the past some botanists included the morphologically similar Old World genus Syzygium in Eugenia, but research by Rudolf Schmid in the early 1970s convinced most botanists that the genera are easily separable. Research by van Wyk and colleagues in South Africa suggests the genus may comprise at least two major lineages, recognizable by anatomical and other features.

All species are woody evergreen trees and shrubs. Several are grown as ornamental plants for their attractive glossy foliage, and a few produce edible fruit that are eaten fresh or used in jams and jellies.

Eugenia species are sometimes used as food plants by the larvae of hepialid moths of the genera Aenetus (including A. splendens) and Endoclita (including E. damor and E. malabaricus). Aenetus species burrow horizontally into the trunk then vertically down. Other Lepidoptera larvae which feed on Eugenia include Eupseudosoma aberrans and Snowy Eupseudosoma.

Selected species

• Eugenia aurata O.Berg
• Eugenia aggregata (Vell.) Kiaersk. - Cherry of the Rio Grande
• Eugenia alternifolia
• Eugenia atropunctata
• Eugenia bimarginata DC.
• Eugenia blastantha (O.Berg) D.Legrand
• Eugenia brasiliensis Lam. - Grumichama (Brazil)
• Eugenia caryophyllata (=Syzygium aromaticum)
• Eugenia cerasiflora Miq.
• Eugenia confusa
• Eugenia copacabanensis - Copacabana Beach Pitanga (Atlantic Coast restingas in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
• Eugenia coronata
• Eugenia dysenterica DC.
• Eugenia earthiana (Costa Rica)
• Eugenia fernandopoana
• Eugenia foetida
• Eugenia hiemalis Cambess.
• Eugenia jambolana (=Syzygium cumini)
• Eugenia jutiapensis Standley & Steyerm.
• Eugenia klotzschiana O.Berg
• Eugenia koolauensis O.Deg - Koʻolau Eugenia, Nioi (Islands of Molokaʻi and Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi)
• Eugenia kunthiana DC.
• Eugenia ligustrina
• Eugenia livida O.Berg
• Eugenia luschnathiana Klotzsch & O.Berg - Pitomba (Bahia, Brazil)
• Eugenia malaceensis (=Syzygium malaccense)
• Eugenia monticola
• Eugenia natalitia
• Eugenia orbiculata
• Eugenia pitanga (O.Berg ex Mart.) Kiaersk. - Pitanga
• Eugenia pluriflora Mart.
• Eugenia polyantha
• Eugenia punicifolia (Kunth) DC.
• Eugenia racemulosa O.Berg
• Eugenia reinwardtiana (Blume) DC., 1828 - Mountain Stopper, Cedar Bay Cherry (Queensland in Australia, Indonesia, Pacific Islands)
• Eugenia sprengelii
• Eugenia stipitata McVaugh - Arazá (Amazon Rainforest)
• Eugenia supra-axillaris
• Eugenia uniflora L. - Surinam Cherry (Neotropics)
• Eugenia uruguayensis Cambess.
• Eugenia uvalha (Brazil)
• Eugenia zeyheri Harv. (South Africa)

References