Species
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Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels

Black Plum, Black plum, Jambolan, Java plum, Jamun, Black plum tree, Indian blackberry, Java plumtree, Portuguese plum, Jaamun, Jambolan Plum

Climate known 64 photographs
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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 cumini, also known as Java plum, Malabar plum, jambolan, black plum, jamun, jambul, is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, and favored for its fruit, timber, and ornamental value. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It can reach heights of up to 30 m (100 ft) and can live more than 100 years. A rapidly growing plant, it is considered an invasive species in many world regions.

Text from Wikipedia, “Syzygium cumini”, 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
(L.) Skeels
Native to
China South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast +20
Wild records
442 in range· 365 open

At a glance

Warmest month
33°C
Apr, mean day; nights 23 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1575mm/yr
8 wet months · peak Jul 356 mm (CHELSA)
Light
26–42DLI
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, June to September at the habitat (not shifted). Habitat rain 1575 mm a year, wettest July at 356 mm, driest January at 12 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 26 to 42 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 12.3 °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.

Also known as Blepharocalyx aromatica (O.Berg) Nied.; Blepharocalyx aromaticus (O.Berg) Nied. ex B.D.Jacks.; Calyptranthes capitellata Buch.-Ham.; Calyptranthes capitellata Buch.-Ham. ex Wall.; Calyptranthes caryophyllifolia Willd. and 45 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to September at the habitat (not shifted).

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 (1139 mm of 1575 mm) falls in June to September, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 26.1 °C against a yearly mean of 25.3 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere, within 10° of the equator; with no thermal season there there is no season to reverse, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

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 1575 mm a year, wettest July at 356 mm, driest January at 12 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1575 mm a year at the habitat, 1139 mm of it June to September. Wettest month July at 356 mm, driest January at 12 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 840 mm to 3601 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern 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: 26 to 42 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 26 to 42 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 21, the highest 90th-percentile month 46).

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 12.3 °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 12.3 °C, the absolute minimum 9.8 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 34.7 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 15.8 °C in January (across the envelope cells 10.3 °C to 22.9 °C), warmest day 32.8 °C in April (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 12.3 °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: 54 to 69% 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 27 °C in Dec to 33 °C in Apr; mean night from 16 °C in Jan to 25 °C in May. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1575 mm of rain a year, most in Jul. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 312 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 9.8 °C and the 99th-percentile day 34.7 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°15°20°25°30°35°40°45°34.7° 99th-percentile day (undated)9.8° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter02004006008001000mm rainDLI 26–42RH 54–69 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 312 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 °C28 / 22–3130 / 24–3332 / 28–3533 / 29–3832 / 28–4029 / 26–3528 / 25–3228 / 25–3128 / 26–3229 / 26–3128 / 25–3027 / 22–30
Night °C16 / 10–2317 / 13–2420 / 16–2523 / 19–2625 / 21–2724 / 20–2724 / 20–2623 / 19–2623 / 19–2521 / 18–2418 / 14–2416 / 11–23
Rain mm12 / 2–3317 / 1–4123 / 3–7853 / 6–160107 / 12–276222 / 64–734356 / 95–992320 / 112–646241 / 120–398163 / 35–34847 / 9–21814 / 5–62
DLI33 / 26–3738 / 31–4141 / 36–4442 / 36–4639 / 32–4631 / 25–3726 / 21–3327 / 21–3430 / 26–3632 / 28–3430 / 27–3331 / 24–34
RH %56 / 49–6154 / 46–6254 / 42–6358 / 39–6562 / 41–6866 / 53–7369 / 59–7769 / 62–7667 / 60–7363 / 53–6960 / 50–6656 / 49–62

Each figure is the median across the 312 grid cells holding the 434 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 1627:5145 (8.625, 77.275). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 9.8 °C, 1st-percentile night 12.3 °C, 99th-percentile day 34.7 °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 312 distinct grid cells holding the 434 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1627:5145 (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 8.50_77.500, lapse-corrected +611 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 872 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.
NativeChina South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Laccadive Is., Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Andaman Is., Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Sulawesi, Queensland· introduced: Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Comoros, Philippines, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Cook Is., Marquesas, Society Is., Tuamotu, Caroline Is., Marianas, Hawaii, Florida, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is., French Guiana, Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil North, Brazil South
Kew's description“tree” · “wet tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker9.398, 76.579 · in the densest population, 154 records (35% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 442 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 365 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 20 km away. 247 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 8 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 442 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Syzygium cuminiSyzygium cuminiSyzygium cuminiSyzygium cuminiSyzygium cuminiSyzygium cuminiSyzygium cuminiSyzygium cumini

Photographs: (c) Ben Machado, some rights reserved (CC BY) (8).

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 cumini, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles using plants extract and analysis of their antimicrobial property
Peter Logeswari, Sivagnanam Silambarasan, Jayanthi Abraham (2012) · Journal of Saudi Chemical Society
Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels: A review of its phytochemical constituents and traditional uses
Muniappan Ayyanar, Pandurangan Subash‐Babu (2012) · Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine
Phenolic contents and antioxidant activity of some food and medicinal plants
Monika Bajpai, Anurag Pande, S. K. Tewari, Dhan Prakash (2005) · International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition
Green synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles from Syzygium Cumini leaves extract with robust photocatalysis applications
Hamad Sadiq, Farooq Sher, Saba Sehar, Éder C. Lima (2021) · Journal of Molecular Liquids
Syzygium cumini extract induced reactive oxygen species‐mediated apoptosis in human oral squamous carcinoma cells
Devaraj Ezhilarasan, Velluru S. Apoorva, Nandhigam Ashok Vardhan (2018) · Journal of Oral Pathology and Medicine
Antioxidant actions and phenolic and vitamin C contents of common Mauritian exotic fruits
Amitabye Luximon‐Ramma, Theeshan Bahorun, Alan Crozier (2003) · Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
Green synthesis of TiO 2 nanoparticles from Syzygium cumini extract for photo-catalytic removal of lead (Pb) in explosive industrial wastewater
Naresh K. Sethy, Zeenat Arif, Pradeep Kumar Mishra, Pradeep Kumar (2020) · Green Processing and Synthesis
Radioprotective Potential of Plants and Herbs against the Effects of Ionizing Radiation
Ganesh Chandra Jagetia (2007) · Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition
Syzygium cumini leaf and seed extract mediated biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles and their characterization
Vineet Kumar, Subhash Chandra Yadav, Subhash C Yadav, Sudesh Kumar Yadav (2010) · Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology
A novel colorimetric indicator film based on chitosan, polyvinyl alcohol and anthocyanins from jambolan (Syzygium cumini) fruit for monitoring shrimp freshness
Barbara Merz, Cristiane Capello, Gabriel Coelho Leandro, Denise Esteves Moritz (2020) · International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
Anthocyanins Present in Selected Tropical Fruits: Acerola, Jambolão, Jussara, and Guajiru
Edy Sousa de Brito, Manuela Cristina Pessanha de Araújo, Ricardo Elesbão Alves, Colleen Carkeet (2007) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Evaluation of the Antioxidant Activity of Syzygium cumini Leaves
Zhi Ping Ruan, Liang Liang Zhang, Yi Lin (2008) · Molecules

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: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
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 91 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.