Diospyros pentamera

Family

Ebenaceae

Botanical Name

Diospyros pentamera (Woolls & F.Muell.) F.Muell.

Mueller, F.J.H. von (1883) Systematic Census of Australian Plants: 92. Type: ?.

Synonyms

Cargillia pentamera F.Muell., Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae 4: 82(1864), Type: In insula Ash Island ad flumen Hunters River, Miss Scott, W. Woolls; ad fluvium Clarence River, H. Beckler, C. Moore, J. Wilcox.. Cargillia arborea Hiern, Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 12(1): 239(1873), Type: ?.

Common name

Ebony, Myrtle; Plum, Grey; Myrtle Ebony; Grey Plum; Grey Persimmon; Black Myrtle; Grey Ebony

Stem

Outer dead bark brown to almost black.

Leaves

About 4-12 small, dark glands, scattered on the underside of the leaf blade. Leaf blades about 4-11 x 2-.5 cm, much paler on the underside (yellowish green). Lateral veins forming a double series of loops inside the blade margin. Terminal buds and young shoots clothed in pale brown prostrate hairs.

Flowers

Male flowers: Flowers about 4 mm long. Outer surface of the calyx and corolla densely clothed in pale (calyx gold, corolla white) prostrate hairs. Stamens 20, fused in pairs in two whorls. Female flower features not available.

Fruit

Fruits seated on a 5-lobed sericeous persistent calyx. Fruits glabrous, +/- globular, about 12-15 mm diam.

Seedlings

Cotyledons linear, about 10-12 x 1 mm. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade with a few scattered hairs on both the upper and lower surfaces; scattered oil dots easily seen with a lens.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to Australia, occurs in NEQ and southwards as far as south-eastern New South Wales. Altitudinal range in NEQ from 400-1100 m. Grows in drier rain forest often associated with Kauri Pine (Agathis robusta).

Natural History

Fruit eaten by several species of birds. Cooper & Cooper (1994).

NEQ

X

Tree

X

RFK Code

141