Red Lip Tree

The Red Lip (Syzygium myrtifolium) is a beautiful native rainforest tree...

The Red Lip (Syzygium myrtifolium) is a beautiful native rainforest tree that is sometimes also cultivated as a shrub or hedge, due to its compact and dense foliage. This species is easily recognisable by its reddish-orange young leaves (which look like lips), small white powderpuff-like flowers, and small black berries that are less than a centimetre wide. The Red Lip is often planted in ornamental landscapes for its colour, and along large roads and expressways as a screening hedge. The flowers and berries of this tree also provide food for various birds and butterflies.

Diagnostics:

The young leaves of Syzygium myrtifolium are often either yellow or orange. The leaves are elliptic and the intermarginal veins runs very closely to the leaf margins. Because of its dense foliage from the bottom to the top, they are very commonly planted very closely to form hedges for visual or sound blockage. It is also frequently pruned as a low shrub.

Interesting Facts:

The Red Lip is naturally found near coastal areas (Kochummen, 1978). However, while native, it is presumed to be nationally extinct in Singapore. Small saplings of this species can sometimes be found wild but these are likely to originate from the massive cultivated stocks planted all over the island.