Syzygium cumini

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Tree from East Indies and Burma, with white flowers and purple to black, globose , edible fruit.

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Myrtaceae

Trees or shrubs , evergreen , usually with essential oils-containing cavities in foliage , branchlets , and flowers. Stipules absent or small and caducous . Leaves opposite, occasionally alternate, occasionally ternate or pseudo-whorled; leaf blade with secondary veins pinnate or basal, often with intramarginal veins near margin , margin usually entire. Inflorescences axillary or terminal , cymose but variously arranged, 1- to many-flowered. Flowers bisexual , sometimes polygamous, actinomorphic . Hypanthium usually adnate to ovary and prolonged above it. Calyx lobes (3 or) 4 or 5 or more, distinct or connate into a calyptra. Petals 4 or 5, sometimes absent, distinct or connate into a calyptra, sometimes coherent and pseudocalyptrate. Stamens usually numerous , in 1 to several whorls; filaments distinct or connate into 5 bundles opposite petals; anthers 2-celled, dorsifixed or basifixed , dehiscing longitudinally or rarely terminally; connectives usually terminating in 1 or more apical glands . Ovary inferior, semi-inferior, or very rarely superior, carpels 2 to more, locules 1 to many, pseudoseptum sometimes present, placentation usually axile but occasionally parietal ; ovules 1 to several per locule. Style single; stigma single. Fruit a capsule, berry, drupaceous berry, or drupe, 1- to many-seeded. Seeds without endosperm or endosperm sparse and thin; testa cartilaginous or thinly membranous, sometimes absent; embryo straight or curved .

About 130 genera and 4500-5000 species: Mediterranean region, sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, tropical and temperate Asia, Australia, Pacific islands, tropical and South America; 10 genera (five introduced ) and 121 species (50 endemic, 32 introduced treated here) in China.

Many Myrtaceae are cultivated garden ornamentals , street trees, or plantation trees. Some members of tribe Syzygieae are grown as fruit crops. In addition to the cultivated members of the family treated here, some others grown in China include Acca sellowiana (O. Berg ) Burrett (Feijoa sellowiana (O. Berg) O. Berg), Myrtus communis Linnaeus, and Syncarpia glomulifera (Smith) Niedenzu.[1]

Genus Syzygium

Trees or shrubs . Branchlets sometimes 2-4-ridged, usually glabrous . Leaves opposite or sometimes whorled , petiolate to subsessile ; leaf blade densely to sometimes sparsely pinnately veined. Inflorescences terminal or axillary , usually panicles of cymes, 3- to many-flowered; bracts small, caducous after flowering. Flowers stipitate or not. Hypanthium obconic or sometimes clavate . Calyx lobes 4 or 5 or rarely more, usually short, caducous or persistent , apex usually obtuse , rarely connate and then calyptrate . Petals 4 or 5 or rarely more, distinct and then expanding separately or coherent and then caducous as a unit . Stamens numerous , distinct but occasionally slightly adhering at base ; anthers minute, versatile, 2-celled, cells parallel or divergent, dehiscing longitudinally or by a short terminal slit; connectives usually terminating in an apical gland . Ovary inferior, 2 or 3-loculed; ovules many per locule. Style linear . Fruit drupaceous , 1(or 2) -seeded. Seeds sometimes with or without a testa, often with a pseudotesta ± adhering to pericarp, rarely with intrusive branching tissue extending into and interlocking cotyledons; embryo usually uniembryonic, sometimes polyembryonic.

About 1200 species: tropical Africa, subtropical to tropical Asia, Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Pacific islands; 80 species (45 endemic, two introduced ) in China.

Syzygium is treated here in a broad sense with Acmena and Cleistocalyx included within it. Morphological and anatomical investigations, and molecular sequence studies of chloroplast and nuclear regions, provide support for such an expanded concept (Amer. J. Bot. 59: 423-436. 1972; Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 92: 433-489. 1972; Proc. Fourth Fl. Mal. Symp. 75-85. 2001; Austral . Syst. Bot. 17: 63-72. 2004; Taxon 55: 79-94. 2006).[2]

Physical Description

Habitat

Secondary forests on level areas, wastelands, streamsides; below 100 to 1200 m [3].

Biology

Growth

Culture: Space over 40' apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 6.0

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Eugenia cumini (L.) Druce • Myrtus Cumini • Myrtus cumini L.

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 11-Nov-2003

Similar Species

Members of the genus Syzygium

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 20 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

S. angophoroides (Yarrabah Satinash) · S. aqueum (Watery Roseapple) · S. aromaticum (Clove) · S. australe 'Australis' (Australian Brush Cherry) · S. cumini (Indian Allspice) · S. grande (Sea Apple) · S. guineense (Water Pear) · S. jambos (Malabar Plum) · S. jambos 'Alston' (Malabar Plum) · S. javanicum (Java Plum) · S. luehmannii (Cherry Alder) · S. malaccense (Macopa) · S. malaccense 'Maroone' (Malay Apple) · S. oleosum (Blue Cherry) · S. paniculatum (Australian Brush Cherry) · S. polyanthum (Indonesian Bay Leaf) · S. pycnanthum (Wild Rose) · S. samarangense (Java Apple) · S. sandwicense ('ohi'a Ha) · S. wilsonii (Brush Cherry)

More Info

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Further Reading

• An annotated catalogue of types of the University of Illinois mycological collections (ILL) / Urbana: University of Illinois Press, c1997. url p. 221.
• An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1922-26. url p. 164.
• Bulletin / Illinois Natural History Survey. Urbana, State of Illinois, Dept. of Registration and Education, Natural History Survey Division, 1918-1985. url p. 179.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) url p. 212.
• Bulletin. Bureau of Plant Industry. U. S. Department of Agriculture. 1901-13. WashingtonGovt. Print. Off. url p. 25, p. 63.
• Check-list of the species of fishes known from the Philippine Archipelago, Manila, Bureau of printing, 1910. url p. 394, p. 592.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45 2003 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 313, p. 414, p. 454, p. 458, p. 465, p. 528, p. 582.
• Cooperative economic insect report. Hyattsville, MD. [etc.]Plant Protection and Quarantine Programs Animal and Plant Health Service. url p. 103, p. 524.
• Emergency food plants and poisonous plants of the islands of the Pacific / [E.D. Merrill] Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Print. Office, 1943. url , p. 93.
• Flora Malesiana. general editor, C.G.G.J. van Steenis. Djakarta: Noordhoff-Kolff, 1950- url p. 874.
• Flora Vitiensis nova: a new Flora of Fiji (spermatophytes only) / Albert C. Smith. Lawaii, Hawaii: Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, 1979- url p. 327.
• IUCN Directory of South Asian Protected Areas IUCN url p. 21.
• Inventory of seeds and plants imported / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry. Washington, D.C.: G.P.O., 1914-1924. url , , , p. 28, p. 85, p. 94, p. 95, p. 98, p. 98.
• Journal of Hymenoptera research. 10 Washington, D.C.: International Society of Hymenopterists, [1992- url p. 175.
• Journal of ethnobiology. 24 2004 Flagstaff, Ariz.: Center for Western Studies, 1981- url p. 159.
• List of intercepted plant pests / United States Department of Agriculture, Plant Quarantine and Control Administration. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O.], 1932- url p. 38, p. 7, p. 81.
• Nature Reserves of the Himalaya and the Mountains of Central Asia IUCN url p. 172, p. 470.
• Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 359.
• The Ecology of arboreal folivores: a symposium held at the Conservation and Research Center, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, May 29-31, 1975 / Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1978. url p. 378.
• Chang Hung-ta & Miau Ru-hwai. 1984. Myrtaceae. In: Chen Chieh, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 53(1): 28-135.
• Chang Hung-ta & Miau Ru-hwai. 1984. Myrtaceae. In: Chen Chieh, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 53(1): 28-135.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 16, 2007:

• Australian National Herbarium
• , Australian National Herbarium
• Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Bishop Museum Natural History Specimen Data
• Herbarium of the University of Aarhus, The AAU Herbarium Database
• Herbier de la Guyane, Herbier de la Guyane
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• National Herbarium of New South Wales, NSW herbarium collection
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2669519
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-199476
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15649740
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:601603-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 36128
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 505419
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: SYJA3
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 38898

Footnotes

1. Jie Chen & Lyn A. Craven "Myrtaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 321. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Syzygium". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 321, 335. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. "Syzygium cumini". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 336, 340, 343, 355. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.