Diospyros atrata (Thw.) Alston - EBENACEAE

Synonym : Diospyros embryopterisPers. var. atrata Thw.

Vernacular names : Tamil: Gusvakendu

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Trees buttressed, up to 25 m tall.
Trunk & Bark : Bark smooth, black, flaky.
Branches and Branchlets : Young branchlets terete, yellowish, with apical and axillary buds black, hairy.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, distichous; petiole 1-1.5 cm long; lamina 8.5-20 x 3-7 cm, elliptic-oblong to elliptic-lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate with blunt tip, base acute to attenuate, coriaceous, glabrous; midrib canaliculate above, stout beneath; secondary_nerves 5-9 pairs, lower pairs closer than above ones; tertiary_nerves strongly reticulate on both surfaces.
Inflorescence / Flower : Flowers dioecious; male flowers axillary, 3-8 in cymes; female flowers solitary, axillary with on short pedicels.
Fruit and Seed : Berry, globose, up to 7 cm in diameter, rusty brown scurfy_tomentum, fruiting_calyx foliaceous, densely black haired inside; seeds 8.

Ecology :

Subcanopy trees in medium elevation wet evergreen forests between 1000 and 1400 m.

Distribution :

Western_Ghats and Sri Lanka; in the Western_Ghats- South Sahyadri.

Literatures :

Triman, Handb. Fl. Sri Lanka 6: 180. 1931; Singh, Monograph on Indian Diospyros L. (Persimmon, Ebony) Ebenaceae. 46. 2005.

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