Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels

ഞാവല്‍

Family : Myrtaceae

Synonym : Myrtus cumini L.

Common Names : Njaval, Black plum, Jambol, Java plum

Flowering Period : December – April

Distribution : Indo-Malaysia

Habitat : Evergreen forests, also in the plains

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.