Eden

Penang Botanic Gardens Plant Collection

Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels (MYRTACEAE)

Posted at — Nov 13, 2019
Java Plum, Jambolan, Jiwat, Salam, Kerian Duat

Description

Medium sized tree to 30 m tall with low spreading rounded crown. Leaves 15-21 cm long, elliptic-oblong, opposite. Flowers c. 6 mm across with white puff of stamens c. 2 cm across, in terminal clusters and clustered along leaf axils on branches or ends of branches. Fruits c. 2 cm long, oblong, fleshy, ripening purplish-red to shiny purplish-black.

Ecology

Lowland evergreen to monsoonal forest.

Distribution

Indian subcontinent, China, SE Asia and Queensland, Australia.

Uses

Fruits are edible, eaten raw or made into juice, sauces, jams and preserves. Sometimes planted in villages for the edible fruits. Buddhists and Hindus consider the tree as sacred. Also planted as an ornamental.