Origin:  Native to eastern Australia
Family:  Myrtaceae
Light:  Sun-part shade
Height:  15-20'
Spacing:  4-6'
Blooms:  Profuse clusters, white fluffy, cottonball, Spring-early Summer
Fioliage:  Evergreen, rounded, glossy, opposite
Fruits:  Edible fresh or cooked, ovoid, smooth, shiny, round, cherry-like, magenta berries, with large seed inside, twice a year
Soil:  Well-drained, moist, rich, acidic, neutral, mildly alkaline
Water:  Moderate
Uses:  Hedges, shrub, small tree, container, topiary, screening, specimen
Propagation:  Seeds (Sow fresh seeds directly after last frost), hardwood heel cuttings

Comments:  Syzgium australe 'Australis'  or Australian Brush Cherry or Australian Rose Apple or Magenta Cherry or Scrub Cherry or Eugenia australis is a subtropical perennial shrub or small tree with a pale trunk.  It is a native of eastern Australia and often found growing in the coastal areas and rainforests of warm, temperate areas.  In Spring to early Summer, Syzgium australe 'Australis' produces prolific clusters of white cottonball blossoms,  followed later by edible large, round, smooth, shiny, fleshy, magenta berries.  Butterflies and bees are magnetized by its nectar-rich blossoms of Australian Bush Cherry while birds have a fiesta with the fruits and help transport them.  Magenta Cherry is easily propagated from fresh seeds or cuttings.  It thrives best in well-drained, moist, rich, acidic, neutral to mildly alkaline soil in a sunny to part shade location.  Australian Rose Apple tolerates light frost.  The fruits can be eaten fresh and they taste sour.  Eugenia australis berries can be used to make the popular delicious lilly-pilly jelly and jam.  Give Scrub Cherry a hard prune in Spring for a refreshing look and promote new growth.  Mass plant Syzgium australe 'Australis' for a lovely hedge or a privacy screen.  It makes a lovely specimen.  Australian Brush Cherry can also be container cultivated or use it for topiary. 

USDA Zones:  9b-11