Botanical name: Syzygium munronii (Wight) Chandrab.
Local name: Malamchamba
Habitat: Evergreen forests
Flowering & fruiting: November to May
Distribution: Western Ghats
Description: It is mostly seen as large shrubs or small trees. Leaves is simple, opposite, decussate and the petiole is 0.4-0.8 cm long, canaliculate, base cordate or subcordate, margin entire, chartaceous to coriaceous, pellucid gland dotted, glabrous, midrib canaliculate above and intramarginal nerves present. The secondary nerves 16-22 pairs, strong beneath. The flowers are few and 4 cm across. The pedicels are 1 cm long. The calyx is 2.5 cm long, funnel-shaped and yellowish white in color. Fruit and seed are berry with greenish pink colour.
Significance: Fruit are consumed raw or used for the preparation of jams, sherbet, jellies, juice, tarts and puddings. The fruit is juicy, almost odorless, with a pleasant, slightly bitter, astringent taste. The purple, olive-shaped fruit is somewhat astringent. The astringency can be removed by soaking the fruit in salt water prior cooking. It attracts bees, yielding a quality honey. The bark contains 13 – 19% tannins and used in tanning and also provides a brown dye that has been used in coloring and preserving fishnets.