Eugenia ligustrina (Sw.) Willd.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Myrtaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Shrub 1-2 m tall, many-branched from base; bark light gray, smooth; twigs puberulent, becoming glabrous and grayish; juvenile buds covered with overlapping, elongate, stipule-like scales. Leaf blades 2-5 x 1-2.5 cm, elliptic, coriaceous, glabrous, the upper surface glossy, with sunken midvein, punctate on lower surface, the apex obtuse to acute, often notched, the base tapering, the margins strongly revolute; petioles 2-5 mm long, glabrous. Flowers white, solitary in leaf axil, subtended by an oblong or linear scale; peduncle 1.8-3.5 cm long. Hypanthium greenish, nearly cup-shaped, ca. 1.5 mm long, glabrous, gland-dotted, the sepals oblong, glabrous, reflexed, 2.5-3 mm long; petals white, oblong, 4-5 mm long; disk 1.5-2 mm wide; stamens numerous, the filaments ca. 3 mm long, glabrous. Berry globose, 8-10 mm diam., black, with persistent elongate sepals.
Distribution and Ecology - A common shrub of coastal scrub or seasonal deciduous forests. Bethany (B347), Lameshur (A743). Also on Jost van Dyke, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda; throughout the Caribbean and northern South America.
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Discussion
Common names: birch berry, crumberry.