Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_syzygium_cumini
Java plum
Syzygium cumini
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About Java plum
Syzygium cumini is a South Asian tree introduced for fruit and shade and now naturalized in Hawaiʻi. DLNR identifies Java plum among common nonnative trees in low-elevation Kauaʻi forest used by Kauaʻi ʻelepaio, directly supporting island presence. Its heavy, animal-dispersed fruit crop and shade can aid spread along moist valleys and disturbed forest, so conservation planning should recognize both wildlife use and displacement risk. Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist documents naturalized presence on Kauaʻi; current extent remains unassessed.
Kauaʻi evidence
Bishop Museum 2025 Checklist wide: Taxon=Syzygium cumini; Status=nat; K=K. Identification and ecological statements have the separately linked reviewed sources. The checklist establishes documented island presence; it does not establish current abundance or invasion extent. The 1918–1959 Kauaʻi reforestation working register records 1,784 plants under Eugenia cumini across 1 entries dated 1938. These are recorded planting quantities, not counts of surviving trees, and they do not by themselves establish current persistence, naturalization, or ecological impact. Source: Kauaʻi Reforestation Plantings 1918–1959 working register (user-supplied; reconciled 6 October 2026).
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Syzygium cumini
- Common names
- Java plum
- Other names
- Java plum · jambolan · jamun · Syzygium jambolanum · Eugenia jambolana · Syzygium cumini
- Family
- Myrtaceae
- Order
- Myrtales
- Record type
- Species or taxonomic group
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Conservation priority; formal rank not listed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-05
- Evidence limits
- Current extent and population trajectory require refreshed surveys; public occurrence is island level only.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Lowland moist valleys · Disturbed forest
- Food and resource needs
- Light, water, nutrients, and suitable soil or substrate
- Reproduction
- Viable propagules and suitable establishment conditions
- Shelter
- Suitable soil, substrate, and vegetation structure
- Growth form
- Tree
Threats and conservation
- Threats
- Invasive pressure where naturalized
- Conservation actions
- Map and control in sensitive native areas
- Monitoring
- Map and control in sensitive native areas
- Data gaps
- Additional ecological and conservation citations are recommended
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not assessed
- Seasonal description
- Syzygium cumini is a South Asian tree introduced for fruit and shade and now naturalized in Hawaiʻi. DLNR identifies Java plum among common nonnative trees in low-elevation Kauaʻi forest used by Kauaʻi ʻelepaio, directly supporting island presence. Its heavy, animal-dispersed fruit crop and shade can aid spread along moist valleys and disturbed forest, so conservation planning should recognize both wildlife use and displacement risk. Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist documents naturalized presence on Kauaʻi; current extent remains unassessed.
Sources and further reading
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Syzygium_Cumini,_java_plum.jpg
- https://powo.science.kew.org/results?q=Syzygium%20cumini
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/wildlife/birds/kauai-elepaio/
- https://ntbg.org/database/herbarium/detail/PTBG1000093418
- https://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/publications/pdf/tr75.pdf
- https://www.kauaiisc.org/invasive-plants/do-not-plant-list/
