Species
+

Syzygium cordatum Hochst.

Mohlo, Montlho, Umdoni Waterberry, Water Berry

Climate known 68 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Syzygium cordatum is an evergreen, water-loving tree, which grows to a height of 8–15 m. This tree is often found near streams, on forest margins or in swampy spots. The leaves are elliptic to circular, bluish green on top and a paler green below. Young leaves are reddish. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Syzygium cordatum”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Syzygium

Syzygium is a genus of flowering plants that belongs to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The genus comprises about 1200 species, and has a native range that extends from Africa and Madagascar through southern Asia east through the Pacific. Its highest levels of diversity occur from Malaysia to northeastern Australia, where many species are very poorly known and many more have not been described taxonomically. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Syzygium”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Myrtaceae
Described by
Hochst.
Native to
Burundi, Gabon, Rwanda +15
Wild records
1663 in range· 561 open

At a glance

Warmest month
26°C
Feb, mean day; nights 18 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
940mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Jan 137 mm (CHELSA)
Light
22–38DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, April to September in the northern hemisphere (October to March at the habitat, southern). Habitat rain 940 mm a year, wettest January at 137 mm, driest June at 26 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 22 to 38 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 8.3 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, April to September in the northern hemisphere (October to March at the habitat, southern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (699 mm of 940 mm) falls in October to March, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 21.2 °C against a yearly mean of 19.2 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: April to September.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 940 mm a year, wettest January at 137 mm, driest June at 26 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

940 mm a year at the habitat, 699 mm of it October to March. Wettest month January at 137 mm, driest June at 26 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 680 mm to 1433 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 22 to 38 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 22 to 38 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 17, the highest 90th-percentile month 49).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 8.3 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 8.3 °C, the absolute minimum 4.7 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 40.9 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 10.6 °C in July (across the envelope cells 5.2 °C to 16.0 °C), warmest day 25.9 °C in February (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 8.3 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 56 to 64% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 21 °C in Jul to 26 °C in Feb; mean night from 11 °C in Jul to 18 °C in Feb. The cold quarter, Jun to Aug, is the three months around the coldest night. 940 mm of rain a year, most in Jan. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 812 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 4.7 °C and the 99th-percentile day 40.9 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°20°30°40°50°40.9° 99th-percentile day (undated)4.7° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250mm rainDLI 22–38RH 56–64 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 812 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C26 / 23–2926 / 23–2925 / 22–2824 / 21–2723 / 19–2521 / 17–2421 / 16–2422 / 17–2623 / 18–2723 / 20–2824 / 21–2825 / 22–28
Night °C18 / 15–2318 / 15–2317 / 14–2216 / 12–2013 / 9–1911 / 6–1611 / 5–1611 / 7–1713 / 9–1815 / 11–1916 / 13–2017 / 14–22
Rain mm137 / 47–235125 / 41–221107 / 60–18767 / 38–16639 / 12–13026 / 5–10929 / 3–11135 / 4–9645 / 10–9887 / 35–123119 / 61–159124 / 59–206
DLI38 / 34–4937 / 34–4433 / 31–3828 / 26–3425 / 20–3222 / 17–3223 / 18–3227 / 23–3632 / 29–4135 / 31–4237 / 34–4638 / 35–49
RH %64 / 58–6864 / 58–6763 / 58–6762 / 57–6559 / 53–6256 / 51–6156 / 49–6157 / 48–6160 / 48–6261 / 52–6562 / 55–6563 / 57–67

Each figure is the median across the 812 grid cells holding the 1654 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 2254:4218 (-22.725, 30.925). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 4.7 °C, 1st-percentile night 8.3 °C, 99th-percentile day 40.9 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 812 distinct grid cells holding the 1654 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2254:4218 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -22.50_30.625, lapse-corrected -23 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 507 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeBurundi, Gabon, Rwanda, Zaïre, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Cape Provinces, Caprivi Strip, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Northern Provinces
Kew's description“shrub or tree” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker-29.796, 30.833 · in the densest population, 807 records (49% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1663 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 561 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 1222 km away. 5 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 9 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 2° block of the 1663 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Syzygium cordatumSyzygium cordatumSyzygium cordatumSyzygium cordatumSyzygium cordatumSyzygium cordatumSyzygium cordatumSyzygium cordatum

Photographs: (c) Tony Rebelo, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (3); (c) Robert Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (3).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Syzygium cordatum, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Fungal Planet description sheets: 107–127
P.W. Crous, Brett A. Summerell, Roger G. Shivas, Treena I. Burgess (2012) · Persoonia - Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi
New and Interesting Fungi. 3
P.W. Crous, Michael J. Wingfield, R.K. Schumacher, Alexander Akulov (2020) · Fungal Systematics and Evolution
Botryosphaeriaceae occurring on native Syzygium cordatum in South Africa and their potential threat to Eucalyptus
Draginja Pavlic, Bernard Slippers, Teresa A. Coutinho, M. J. Wingfield (2007) · Plant Pathology
Lasiodiplodia gonubiensis sp. nov., a new Botryosphaeria anamorph from native Syzygium cordatum in South Africa
Draginja Pavlic, Bernard Slippers, Teresa A. Coutinho, Marieka Gryzenhout (2004)
Effects of Syzygium cordatum (Hochst.) [Myrtaceae] leaf extract on plasma glucose and hepatic glycogen in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats
C. T. Musabayane, Nomsa Mahlalela, Francis O. Shode, John A. O. Ojewole (2005) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Screening of Venda medicinal plants for antifungal activity against Candida albicans
Vanessa Steenkamp, Antônio Carlos Fernandes, C.E.J. Van Rensburg (2006) · South African Journal of Botany
Molecular and phenotypic characterization of three phylogenetic species discovered within theNeofusicoccum parvum/N. ribiscomplex
Draginja Pavlic, Bernard Slippers, Teresa A. Coutinho, Michael J. Wingfield (2009) · Mycologia
Distribution of Chrysoporthe Canker Pathogens on Eucalyptus and Syzygium spp. in Eastern and Southern Africa
Grace Nakabonge, Jolanda Roux, Marieka Gryzenhout, Michael J. Wingfield (2006) · Plant Disease
Discovery of the Canker Pathogen Chrysoporthe austroafricana on Native Syzygium spp. in South Africa
R. N. Heath, Marieka Gryzenhout, Jolanda Roux, Michael J. Wingfield (2006) · Plant Disease
Renal Effects of Plant-Derived Oleanolic Acid in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats
RF Mapanga, Mark Tufts, Francis O. Shode, C. T. Musabayane (2009) · Renal Failure
Disturbances and species distribution of the riparian vegetation of a Rift Valley stream
Jude M. Mathooko, Samuel Kariuki (2000) · African Journal of Ecology

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Syzygium 11 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: filled 2026-09-20
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 37 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.