Syzygium australe Big Red

The Syzygium australe 'Big Red' is derived from an evergreen bush native to the tropical regions of eastern Australia. 'Big Red' is a new variety that is more compact and much more colorful than the species, making it an interesting subject for decorating the terrace or patio during the summer season. With a dense and bushy habit that is easy to maintain through pruning, it is decorative all year round. It offers successively red young shoots contrasting with the mature foliage of a dark green, white flowers powdered with stamens forming a beautiful mist on the plant, and then fruits of a bright, red-pink cherry. Its cultivation in the ground will be reserved for the mildest areas of Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. 

The Syzygium australe, from the Myrtaceae family, is widespread in the tropical forests that populate the coastal regions of Queensland and New South Wales, as well as north of Batemans Bay in Australia. In nature, it forms a true tree that can reach a height of 35 meters (115 feet), but its dimensions are much more modest in cultivation, even in its native Australia. It is a cousin of the clove tree, Syzygium aromaticum, famous for its dried flower buds with a unique fragrance.

The 'Big Red' cultivar (Crysyred), still little known in France, was recently obtained in Queensland. It is a small bush reaching about 1.50 metres (5 feet) in height and 1.20 metres (4 feet) in width. Its habit is bushy, dense, and its growth is moderately fast. The evergreen leaves are shiny, ovate, leathery, measuring about 4 cm (2in) long and 2 cm (1in) wide. They emerge with a bright red color and then become a shiny dark green, giving the vegetation a very decorative appearance in spring, as well as after each pruning, when new leaves are produced. The bush, self-fertile and nectar-producing, blooms generously in summer. The small white flowers, 1 cm (1in) wide, have prominent stamens. Gathered in clusters, they appear at the axil of the leaves and are followed in autumn by the formation of oval fruits, 2 cm (1in) long, fleshy, shiny, and a very bright pink-red when ripe. They are edible and consumed in Australia as jam or fresh. Their texture is crunchy and their flavor, slightly sour and slightly sweet, is refreshing.

Hardy to about -7°C, the Syzygium 'Big Red' is a beautiful conservatory plant in cold climates. In a greenhouse or conservatory, it will compose an extremely decorative quartet with an orange tree, a Yuzu, and a mimosa, evoking the gardens of the antipodes. In very mild climates, on the Atlantic coast or mediterranean, it can be used as a low hedge - it tolerates pruning well - or in a flower bed, or even in a well-sheltered orchard, among blueberries, raspberries, and the May Berry. It can also be accompanied by a sarcococca, abelias, dwarf rhododendrons in non-calcareous soil, or even red-flowered callistemons (Callistemon citrinus 'Splendens').