Eugenia

This article is about the genus of flowering plants. For other uses, see Eugenia (disambiguation).

Eugenia
Eugenia sprengelii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Subfamily:	Myrtoideae
Tribe:	Myrteae
Genus:	Eugenia L.
Type species
Eugenia uniflora L.
Species
About 1,000; see text
Synonyms
List Calomyrtus Blume nom. inval. Calophylloides Smeathman ex DC. Catinga Aubl. Chloromyrtus Pierre Emurtia Raf. Epleienda Raf. Greggia Gaertn. nom. illeg. Jossinia Comm. ex DC. Monimiastrum J.Guého & A.J.Scott Myrcialeucus Rojas Myrtopsis O.Hoffm. Olynthia Lindl. Phyllocalyx O.Berg nom. illeg. Pilothecium (Kiaersk.) Kausel Pseudeugenia D.Legrand & Mattos Psidiastrum Bello Stenocalyx O.Berg

Eugenia is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It has a worldwide, although highly uneven, distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. The bulk of the approximately 1,000 species occur in the New World tropics, especially in the northern Andes, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Forest (coastal forests) of eastern Brazil. Other centers of diversity include New Caledonia and Madagascar. Many species new to science have been and are in the process of being described from these regions. For example, 37 new species of Eugenia have been described from Mesoamerica in the past few years. At least 20 new species are currently in the process of being described from New Caledonia, and approximately the same number of species new to science may occur in Madagascar. Despite the enormous ecological importance of the myrtle family in Australia (e.g. Eucalyptus, Corymbia, Angophora, Melaleuca, Callistemon, Rhodamnia, Gossia), only one species of Eugenia, E. reinwardtiana, occurs on that continent. The genus also is represented in Africa south of the Sahara, but it is relatively species-poor on that continent. In the past some botanists included the morphologically similar Old World genus Syzygium in Eugenia, but research by Rudolf Schmid in the early 1970s convinced most botanists that the genera are easily separable. Research by van Wyk and colleagues in South Africa suggests the genus may comprise at least two major lineages, recognizable by anatomical and other features.

All species are woody evergreen trees and shrubs. Several are grown as ornamental plants for their attractive glossy foliage, and a few produce edible fruit that are eaten fresh or used in jams and jellies.

Eugenia species are sometimes used as food plants by the larvae of hepialid moths of the genera Aenetus (including A. splendens) and Endoclita (including E. damor and E. malabaricus). Aenetus species burrow horizontally into the trunk then vertically down. Other Lepidoptera larvae which feed on Eugenia include Eupseudosoma aberrans and Snowy Eupseudosoma.

The genus was named in honor of Prince Eugene of Savoy.

Selected species

• Eugenia angustissima O.Berg – Needle-leaf Cherry
• Eugenia aurata O.Berg
• Eugenia axillaris Sw.Willd.
• Eugenia azeda M.Sobral – Feijoa Pitanga
• Eugenia beaurepairiana – Visconde Uvaia
• Eugenia bimarginata DC.
• Eugenia blastantha (O.Berg) D.Legrand
• Eugenia brasiliensis Lam. – Grumichama (Brazil)
• Eugenia brejoensis Mazine
• Eugenia candolleana – Rainforest Plum
• Eugenia capensis – Dune Myrtle, Eastern Cape Myrtle (South Africa)
• Eugenia cerasiflora Miq.
• Eugenia cereja D.Legrand – Mountain Cherry
• Eugenia confusa
• Eugenia copacabanensis – Copacabana Beach Pitanga (Atlantic Coast restingas in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
• Eugenia coronata
• Eugenia dysenterica DC. a.k.a. Stenocalyx dysentericus O.Berg
• Eugenia earthiana (Costa Rica)
• Eugenia fernandopoana
• Eugenia florida – Rainforest Cherry, Guamirim Cereja
• Eugenia foetida
• Eugenia fulva
• Eugenia hiemalis Cambess.
• Eugenia involucrata – Cherry of the Rio Grande

• Eugenia involucrata var. calycina – Cerrado Cherry. Sometimes classified as Eugenia calycina.

• Eugenia klotzschiana O.Berg – Cerrado Pear
• Eugenia koolauensis O.Deg – Koʻolau Eugenia, Nioi (Islands of Molokaʻi and Oʻahu in Hawaii)
• Eugenia lamprophylla
• Eugenia ligustrina
• Eugenia livida O.Berg
• Eugenia luschnathiana Klotzsch & O.Berg – Bahia Pitomba (Bahia, Brazil), not to be confused with Talisia esculenta
• Eugenia lutescens – Field uvaia, Field perinha, Sweet Uvainha. Sometimes classified as Eugenia sellowiana var. lutescens.
• Eugenia mabaeoides Wight.
• Eugenia mattosii – Pitanguinha
• Eugenia modesta
• Eugenia monticola
• Eugenia nitida – Pitanga-juba, Restinga pitangão, Bush orange
• Eugenia orbiculata
• Eugenia petrikensis
• Eugenia pitanga (O.Berg ex Mart.) Kiaersk. – Pitanga-peba, Creeping Pitanga
• Eugenia pluriflora Mart.
• Eugenia polyantha
• Eugenia punicifolia (Kunth) DC.
• Eugenia pyriformis Brazil – Uvaia, uvalha

• Eugenia pyriformis x lutescens – Rugosa Uvaia

• Eugenia reinwardtiana (Blume) DC. – Mountain Stopper, Cedar Bay Cherry, Beach cherry (Queensland in Australia, Indonesia, Pacific Islands)
• Eugenia repanda – Pitanga-jambo
• Eugenia roxburghii DC.
• Eugenia selloi – Pitanga-tuba, Pitangola
• Eugenia sellowiana – Field Uvaia, Field Perinha, Sweet Uvainha
• Eugenia singampattiana Beddome
• Eugenia speciosa – Ibaijuba, Bush orange
• Eugenia sprengelii
• Eugenia stipitata McVaugh – Arazá-boi (Amazon Rainforest)
• Eugenia supraaxillaris
• Eugenia truncata
• Eugenia umtamvunensis (South Africa)
• Eugenia uniflora L. – Suriname Cherry, pitanga (Neotropics)
• Eugenia uruguayensis Cambess.
• Eugenia victoriana – Guayabilla. northern South America

Formerly placed here

Many species formerly placed in Eugenia have been moved to Syzygium.