Eugenia nitida Duthie

A medium-sized tree up to 30 m tall with dense crown, bole up to 60 cm in diameter; bark surface fissured and scaly, grey. Leaves opposite, simple, glabrous; petiole up to 12 mm long; blade oblong-elliptical, narrowly elliptical or lanceolate, 5-16 cm x 2.5-7 cm, with 6-11 pairs of secondary veins distinct below and a distinct intramarginal vein, dotted with minute oil glands, petiole up to 12 mm long. Inflorescence a panicle, 2-8 cm long, usually arising below the leaves, sometimes axillary, but trees flower very profusely; flowers sessile, bisexual, regular, fragrant, white, in threes on ultimate branchlets of the panicle; calyx cup-shaped, about 4 mm long, with 4 broad persistent lobes; petals 4, free, 2.5-3.5 mm long, white; stamens numerous, arranged in 4 groups, about 3 mm long; disk quadrangular, orange-yellow. Fruit a 1-seeded berry, depressed globose to globose, up to 12 mm in diameter, dark red to purplish-black when ripe.

S. polyanthum may flower as soon as 3 years old. Flowering and fruiting are more or less year-round. The flowers last for 4-7 days and are usually pollinated by beetles and butterflies.

S. polyanthum is widely distributed and locally common as understorey tree in lowland primary and secondary forests, also in thickets, bamboo forest and teak plantations, in Java up to 1000 m, in Sabah up to 1200 m, and in Thailand up to 1300 m altitude.

Salam is propagated by seed, cuttings or air layering. Wildlings can be collected from under adult trees. Seed loses its viability very rapidly and after 4-6 weeks it hardly germinates. Seed should be sown fresh from the fruit, on the surface of loose soil and under shade. It should not be buried, as this seriously reduces the germination percentage. Germination is rapid, starting 1-3 weeks after sowing, and is complete after 5-12 weeks. Natural regeneration is generally profuse and seedlings can survice under shade for several years. Wildlings should be hardened off in a nursery before being planted.

Plantation: Trees are planted in the field at a spacing of 6 m x 6 m. However, in forestry a spacing of 2 m x 3 m is used because 6 m x 6 m is considered too wide for timber production, as it gives rise to an unfavourable stem form and undesired branching. S. polyanthum is often used for underplanting in forest plantations (teak, pine, kauri) to reduce excessive development of weeds. The leaves decay relatively slowly and provide large quantities of mulch. Salam is a common home-garden tree, receiving little specific attention. Regular pruning seems to be tolerated.

Pests: The following noxious insect species have been observed on Syzygium in Indonesia: Argyroploce mormopa (a tip-boring caterpillar on S. polyanthum), Coccus viridus (feeding on the sap), Acarina (mites) and Alcides patruelis (larvae living in the shoots and beetles gnawing holes in the tender parts of the shoots). Termites can be a serious pest of young seedlings, and other pests include the red tree ant Oecophylla smaragdina and the coccid Saissetia eugeniae.

Soil improver: S. polyanthum is also often used for underplanting. The leaves of these species decay relatively slowly and yield large quantities of mulch. Underplanting of kelat has been reported for teak (Tectona grandis L.f.), pine (Pinus spp.), kauri (Agathis spp.) and Albizia procera (Roxb.) Benth. plantations.

Food: The aromatic leaves of salam, either fresh or dried, are used as a spice in many South-East Asian meat, fish, rice and vegetable dishes. Its use is comparable to that of laurel leaves (bay-leaves) in European cuisine. The leaves are added early on and are left to cook with the dish, as the flavour develops only gradually. Ripe fruits are edible, although slightly astringent. Medicine: Leaf and bark extracts are used medicinally against diarrhoea. Pounded leaves, bark and roots are applied as poultices against itches. Tannin or dyeing stuff: The bark is used for tanning fishing-nets and for dyeing bamboo matting brown-red (for further blackening the matting is subsequently immersed in mud). Timber: Timber of S. polyanthum belongs to the trade group ""kelat"", which is a medium-weight to heavy hardwood. It is used for house building and furniture.