Acmena is a genus of
shrubA shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s and small
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s in the myrtle family
MyrtaceaeThe Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here. All species are woody, with essential oils, and flower parts in multiples of four or five...
. They are related to
guavaGuavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium, which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America and northern South America...
s. The name is derived from the
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
word for "plentiful."
It is a fairly recent creation, being split off from
EugeniaEugenia 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...
, along with the closely-related
SyzygiumSyzygium is a genus of flowering plants that belongs to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The genus comprises about 1100 species, and has a native range that extends from Africa and Madagascar through southern Asia east through the Pacific...
.
There are 15 species; six are endemic to
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, and a seventh occurs there. The remaining species are native to
MalesiaMalesia is a biogeographical region straddling the boundary of the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. Malesia was first identified as a floristic province that included the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea, based on a shared tropical flora derived mostly from Asia but...
.
The Australian species are commonly labelled as
lilly pillies, along with the Australian
Syzygiums
Acmena is used as a food plant by the
larvaA larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....
e of some
LepidopteraLepidoptera is an order of insects that includes moths and butterflies. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
species including
Aenetus ligniverenAenetus is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are 24 described species found in Indonesia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Australia and New Zealand. Most species have green or blue forewings and reddish hindwings but some are predominantly brown or white...
, which burrows into the trunk.
Species include:
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Acmena is a genus of
shrubA shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s and small
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s in the myrtle family
MyrtaceaeThe Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here. All species are woody, with essential oils, and flower parts in multiples of four or five...
. They are related to
guavaGuavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium, which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America and northern South America...
s. The name is derived from the
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
word for "plentiful."
It is a fairly recent creation, being split off from
EugeniaEugenia 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...
, along with the closely-related
SyzygiumSyzygium is a genus of flowering plants that belongs to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The genus comprises about 1100 species, and has a native range that extends from Africa and Madagascar through southern Asia east through the Pacific...
.
There are 15 species; six are endemic to
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, and a seventh occurs there. The remaining species are native to
MalesiaMalesia is a biogeographical region straddling the boundary of the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. Malesia was first identified as a floristic province that included the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea, based on a shared tropical flora derived mostly from Asia but...
.
The Australian species are commonly labelled as
lilly pillies, along with the Australian
Syzygiums
Acmena is used as a food plant by the
larvaA larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....
e of some
LepidopteraLepidoptera is an order of insects that includes moths and butterflies. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
species including
Aenetus ligniverenAenetus is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are 24 described species found in Indonesia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Australia and New Zealand. Most species have green or blue forewings and reddish hindwings but some are predominantly brown or white...
, which burrows into the trunk.
Species include:
- Acmena divaricata Merr. & L.M.Perry
- Acmena graveolens (F.M.Bailey) L.S.Sm.
- Acmena hemilampra
Acmena hemilampra, known as the Broad-leaved Lilly Pilly is a rainforest tree from New South Wales and Queensland. Often seen on sand by the sea in littoral rainforests, also seen further inland by streams. It reaches its best development in the red/brown volcanic soils, such as around the Mount...
(F.Muell. ex F.M.Bailey) Merr. & L.M.Perry
- Acmena ingens
Acmena ingens is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. It grows on volcanic soil from the Big Scrub region of north eastern New South Wales to Gympie in south eastern Queensland...
(F.Muell. ex C.Moore) Guymer & B.Hyland
- Acmena macrocarpa C.T.White
- Acmena resa B.Hyland
- Acmena smithii
Syzygium smithii is a summer flowering evergreen tree, belonging to the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It is commonly planted as shrubs or hedgerows. It features rough woody bark, cream and green smooth waxy leaves with flushes of pink new growth and pink to mauve edible berries. It shares the common...
(Poir.) Merr. & L.M.Perry