164
Syzygium
cumini (L.) Skeels
Synonym : Myrtus cumini L.
Family
: Myrtaceae
Local Names
: Njaval, Black plum, Jambol,
Java plum
Flowering
and fruiting period:
December – April
Distribution: Indo-Malaysia
Habitat: Evergreen forests,
also in the plains
IUCN
status:
Data Deficient
Endemic: Yes
Uses: Fruits edible,
Timber yielding. The seeds and bark are well known for the treatment of dysentery
and in the control of hyperglycaemia and glycosuria in diabetic patients. A
coffee-like beverage is made from the dried and ground up seeds
Key
Characters:
Black plums are medium sized trees; bark white, light pink inside. Leaves
ovate, oblong, long-acuminate at apex, acute at base; nerves many, close,
shining above. Panicles to 10 cm across, on leafless branchlets. Flowers,
subsessile; calyx tube, turbinate. Fruit is a Berry, obovoid, deep blue.
