''Syzygium maire'', swamp maire, is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

tree

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is found throughout the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, and the top of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. The

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

name is '. Swamp maire grows in wetlands, where it develops breathing roots in waterlogged soils, but is also tolerant of reasonably dry situations. The creamy-white flowers in autumn are followed by bright red

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

s around 3 cm in length in late winter. The fruit are edible and can be eaten raw or cooked. The fruits are rich in antioxidants. Swamp maire is sold for use in gardens as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

. It is not related to other species called ''maire'', which are in the genus ''

Nestegis ''Nestegis'' is a genus of flowering plant in the olive family, Oleaceae. There are five currently accepted species in the genus: three species are endemic to New Zealand, while one can be found on New Zealand and Norfolk Island. Another is r ...

''.

References

* Metcalf, Laurie, 2002. ''A Photographic Guide to Trees of New Zealand''. Auckland: New Holland. * Salmon, J.T., 1986. ''The Native Trees of New Zealand''. Wellington: Heinemann Reed.

External links

* ''New Zealand Plant Conservation Network''
''Syzygium maire''
accessed 2010-10-04. * Marilyn Head, ''ABC Science Online''

accessed 21 April 2008. maire Trees of New Zealand {{Myrtaceae-stub