# Jamun (Syzygium cumini)

> A fast-growing evergreen shade tree to about 30 m with glossy leaves and purple-black oval fruit that stain mouths and pavements every monsoon. Jamun is planted on roadsides, in orchards and in social forestry across India and is one of the most widely distributed trees of the subcontinent. It is a Category I invasive in Florida and a pasture weed where naturalised, and the fruit exemption aside it appears on South Africa's NEMBA list.

Source: https://treerm.org/trees/syzygium-cumini · Updated 2026-11-08 · License CC BY 4.0

## Facts

- Also called: Java plum, Jambolan, Black plum, Jambul
- Family: Myrtaceae
- Type: Broadleaf evergreen
- Mature height: 25 m; spread 12 m
- Growth: Fast growing; lives about 100 years
- Light: Sun or part shade
- Water: Moderate water
- Soil: Deep, rich, well-drained soils but tolerates alluvium, laterite, limestone and some salinity; tolerates prolonged flooding
- Native range: Native to the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Indochina, southern China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Queensland; naturalised in Florida, Hawaii, East Africa and Latin America.

**Benefits:** Edible, Shade, Birds, Wildlife, Fast canopy, Flood tolerant, Pollinators

**Good for:** Food, Yard shade, Street tree, Windbreak, Agroforestry

**Watch out for:** Messy fruit, Invasive elsewhere, Heavy litter

## Care

Plant at the start of the rains; seedlings can reach 4 m in two years. Water the first dry season; it tolerates flooding and some shade when young. Space 12 m apart as a shade tree. Coppices vigorously. Fallen fruit ferments, attracts flies and stains, so keep it off paths and driveways. Leaf spot, sooty mould, scale and whitefly are minor.

## Where it stands

- **Native:** QLD, Australia; Bangladesh; India; Sri Lanka; Myanmar (Burma); Nepal; Pakistan; Thailand
- **Adapted:** Kenya (Introduced per WCVP); Tanzania (Introduced per WCVP); HI, United States (Introduced and naturalised per WCVP)
- **Invasive:** FL, United States (FISC Category I; UF/IFAS Assessment: invasive in South Florida; not prohibited); South Africa (On the NEMBA 2020 national list (Jambolan); fruit for human consumption exempt)

## Sources

- https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=1576
- https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Syzygium_cuminii.PDF
- https://plant-directory.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/syzygium-cumini
- https://www.floridainvasives.org/plant-list/2025-invasive-plant-species/
- https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/saf220858.pdf
- https://www.gbif.org/species/3183840