Syzygium puberulum is a small, evergreen, rainforest understory tree reaching up to 15 m (49 ft) high, with a trunk diameter not exceeding 30 cm (12 in)[2][5] The leaves are simple and opposite, papery, dark green above and lighter below.

[5][6] The inflorescence is a pendant panicle produced either terminally, from the leaf axils or from the wood of the branches.

They published the name in a paper titled Plantae Papuanae Archboldianae in the Journal of the Arnold Arboretum.

[2] Syzygium puberulum serves as a host plant for larvae of the pale cerulean butterfly (Jamides cyta)[9] This species is listed by both the Queensland Department of Environment and Science and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as least concern.

[1][2] It has been suggested that the white satinash would make a good garden plant due to its weeping habit, colourful fruit and pendulous inflorescences,[5] however there is no evidence that the species is being sold by nurseries.