Diospyros crumenata

Diospyros crumenata Thwaites, Enum. Pl. Zeyl. 179 1860.;

Evergreen dioecious trees, to 25 m high, bark 4 mm thick, black, thin scaly with small depression, blaze creamy yellow turning to brown on exposure; branchlets glabrous. Leaves simple, alternate, estipulate; petiole 7-13 mm, stout, grooved above, glabrous; lamina 7.5-15 x 3.5-6.8 cm, oblong, elliptic, ovate-oblong or elliptic-oblong, base obtuse, obtuse or acute, apex bluntly acute or acuminate, margin entire, glabrous, glossy, coriaceous; lateral nerves 7-10 pairs, pinnate, prominent, intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers unisexual, yellow; male flowers; 3-7 flowers in shortly stalked cymes; peduncle 3-10 mm long, pilose; pedicels nodding, short, ultimate ones 1-4 mm; calyx large, cupular, tomentose on outside; lobes 4, obtuse; corolla tubular, 14 mm long, yellow; lobes 4, short, broad, rounded, recurved; stamens about 12, 4-6 mm long, subequal; pistillode small or absent; female flowers: solitary, axillary; pedicel short, stout; calyx large, cupular, tomentose on both surfaces, corolla tubular, 15 mm long, densely tomentose, yellowish-white; lobes 4, broad acute, patent or reflexed; staminodes 8-12, epipetalous, unequal, ovary superior, pilose, 8-celled, ovule 1-in each cell; stigmas 4, fleshy, short. Fruit a berry, subglobose, 3-5 cm across, smooth; calyx much enlarged, nearly flat, woody; seeds 1-8, 2.2 x 1.2 cm, oblong, compressed, glossy black; endosperm ruminate.

This species was discovered in only two forest localities during the extensive surveys conducted for the National Conservation Review.  

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