Sizgium Jambolanum ( black plum )Fleurs, fruits et feuillages choisis de la flore et de la Pomone by Hoola Van Nooten

Sizgium Jambolanum is from the ‘Fleurs, fruits et feuillages choisis de la flore et de la Pomone de l’ Ile de Java peints d’après nature’ by Berthe Hoola Van Nooten ( 1817 – 1892 ). Other names for this plant are Malabar plum, Java plum, black plum, or jambolan. Most commonly known as black plum and originally indigenous to India. It has been used in various complementary and alternative systems of medicine and, before the discovery of insulin, was a frontline antidiabetic medication even in Europe. The brew prepared by boiling the Jamun seeds in boiling water has been used in the various traditional systems of medicine in India for centuries. This print is in good condition with some repaired tears in the upper margin and 1/8 inch loss on right margin, and two yellow tape reside marks on the very top margin , none of which will show when framed.

Berthe Hoola van Nooten ( 1817 – 1892 ) was a Dutch botanical artist noted for her botanical plates illustrating “Fleurs, Fruits et Feuillages Choisis de l’Ile de Java” in 1863-64. It was published in the early days of chromolithography . Nooten had moved to Java and was very interested in the indigenous flora of Java. She produced 40 plates depicting interesting plant species from Java.  The drawings would make up the illustrated work Fleurs, Fruits et Feuillages, choisis de l’île Java: peints d’après nature. The illustrations are accompanied by descriptions in French and English, describing the plant’s history and uses. The work was published in Brussels in 1863, and was dedicated to  Sophia Mathilde wife of  King William III of the Netherlands whose patronage she had acquired.