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Rhodomyrtus tomentosa
Also called Downy rose myrtle, Downy Myrtle, Ceylon Hill Cherry, Hill Gooseberry
In Singapore: Kemunting, Rose Myrtle, 桃金娘 (Native to Singapore, Vulnerable)
Rose myrtle is an evergreen shrub or small tree from southern and southeastern Asia, grown for its showy pink-white flowers and edible purple berries. It does best in warm, humid conditions with moist soil.
Rhodomyrtus tomentosa also known as rose myrtle, is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae, native to southern and southeastern Asia, from India, east to southern China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines, and south to Malaysia and Sulawesi. It grows in coasts, natural forest, riparian zones, wetlands, moist and wet forests, bog margins, from sea level up to 2400 m elevation.
It has shown promise as a fire retardant species for use in fire breaks in the Himalayas. It is a popular ornamental plant in gardens in tropical and subtropical areas, grown for its abundant flowers and sweet, edible fruit. The fruit can be made into pies and jams, or used in salads. In Phú Quốc, Vietnam, the fruits are used to produce a wine called rượu sim, and are also made into jellies, or freshly canned with syrup for export.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Rhodomyrtus tomentosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
