Diospyros ferrea (Willd.) Bakh.

ഫിലിപ്പൈൻ എബണി

Family : EBENACEAE

Synonym : Pisonia buxifolia Rottb.

Common Names : Irumpalei, Philippine Ebony, Persimmon

Flowering Period : February-May

Distribution : India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, North Australia and Africa

Habitat : Dry deciduous forests

Uses : The fruit-pulp is edible when ripe. It is said to be a famine food in southern India. The fibrous bark is used to make cordage. Timber yielding.

Key Characters :

Small trees to 4 m tall; bark dark grey, fissured, rough. Leaves alternate, 1-2.5 x 1-1.8 cm, obovate-oblong or spathulate, base cuneate to attenuate, apex obtuse to emarginate, coriaceous; petiole to 2 mm long. Flowers 1-3, in axillary fascicles, white. Male flower: calyx pale yellowish, c. 2 mm long, cup-shaped, lobes 3, 1-1.5 mm long, triangular-ovate, acute; corolla tube 5 -6 mm long, tubular, lobes 3, 1 -1.5 mm long, oblong-ovate, acute ; stamens 6, c. 2 mm long. Female flower: similar to male one; ovary c. 2 mm long, globose, silky-pubescent, stigmas 3. Berry 5-7 mm long, subglobose, yellow to brownish red. Seeds 1-3, c. 4 mm long, wedge-shaped.