Diospyros humilis

Family

Ebenaceae

Botanical Name

Diospyros humilis (R.Br.) F.Muell.

Mueller, F.J.H. von (1867) Intercolonial Exhibition Essays 1866-67, No. 5. Australian vegetation: 35. Type: ?.

Synonyms

Maba humilis R.Br., Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae: 527(1810), Type: v.v. absque floribus. R. Brown. Diospyros ferrea var. humilis (R.Br.) Bakh., Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg Series 3 15: 57(1937), Type: ?. Ebenus humilis (R.Br.) Kuntze, Revisio Generum Plantarum 2: 408(1891), Type: ?. Maba ovata F.Muell., Hooker's Journal of Botany & Kew Garden Miscellany 8: 326(1856), Type: ?. Maba obovata R.Br., Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae: 527(1810), Type: v.v. [given by A.P.Hiern, Trans. Cambr. Philos. Soc. 12 (1873) 119]. R. Brown. Ebenus obovata (R.Br.) Kuntze, Revisio Generum Plantarum 2: 408(1891), Type: ?.

Common name

Ebony, Black; Ebony, Native; Ebony, Queensland; Ebony, Small Leaved; Ebonywood; Long Tom; Queensland Ebony; Ebony, Australian; Black Ebony; Australian Ebony; Small Leaved Ebony; Ebony Wood; Native Ebony

Stem

Dead bark quite dark, almost black, layered. Pale brown brittle stripes in the blaze. Innermost layers of heartwood almost black in larger trees.

Leaves

Leaf blade generally rather small, about 1.5-4 cm long. Lateral veins scarcely visible on fresh material.

Flowers

Male flowers: Outer surface of the calyx +/- glabrous, but the outer surface of the corolla lobes densely clothed in pale straight and tortuous hairs. Stamens nine (six in the outer whorl and three in the inner whorl). Female flower features not available.

Fruit

Fruits ellipsoid, about 5-10 mm diam, glabrous, seated in a 3-lobed puberulous cup.

Seedlings

Cotyledons ovate to elliptic, 10-13 x 28 mm. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade glabrous on the upper surface; midrib flush with the upper surface of the leaf blade; petiole hairy and a few scattered hairs present along the midrib on the undersurface of the leaf blade.

Distribution and Ecology

Occurs in WA, NT, CYP, NEQ and southwards to south-eastern Queensland. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 850 m. Grows in monsoon forest, beach forest and other similar communities. Also occurs in New Guinea.