Description
Family Ebenaceae
Trees
or erect
shrubs
, occasionally with spine-tipped branchlets
. Leaves alternate, rarely opposite, entire; stipules absent. Flowers actinomorphic
, usually unisexual
, dioecious, or polygamous, rarely bisexual
. Male flowers often in cymes, sometimes in clusters
or solitary; pistil rudimentary
or absent. Female flowers often solitary, axillary
, imperfect or without stamens. Calyx 3--7-lobed, persistent
and often becoming enlarged in female or bisexual flowers; lobes
abutting or overlapping in bud. Corolla 3--7-lobed; lobes convolute, rarely overlapping or abutting. Stamens hypogynous or at bottom
of corolla, 2--4 X
as many as corolla lobes, rarely as many as corolla lobes and alternate with them; filaments
free
or united
in pairs. Ovary superior, 2--16-locular; ovules 1 or 2 per locule. Styles 2--8, free or basally united; stigma entire or 2-lobed. Fruit a ± fleshy
berry, with few to several seeds. Seeds usually oblong
; endosperm sometimes ruminate
; hilum
small.
Three genera and ca.
500 species: mostly in the tropics; one genus and 60 species (43 endemic) in China.[1]
Genus Diospyros
Trees
or shrubs
, deciduous or evergreen
. Terminal
buds absent. Branchlet
tips
sometimes forming a spine. Leaves alternate, occasionally minutely translucent
dotted
or with gland
pits. Flowers dioecious or polygamous. Male flowers in axillary
cymes, usually on basal part of current
year's branchlets, deciduous soon after anthesis
; stamens 4 to numerous
, often paired
and forming 2 whorls; ovary rudimentary
. Female flowers usually solitary, axillary; staminodes 1--16 or absent; stigma often 2-cleft. Calyx usually 3--5(--7) -lobed, sometimes truncate
. Corolla urn-shaped, campanulate
, or tubular
, 3--5(--7) -lobed, deciduous. Berries
fleshy
to somewhat leathery, usually with an enlarged persistent
calyx. Seeds 1--10(or more), often laterally compressed
.
About 485 species: pantropical
and extending into temperate regions
; 60 species in China, most abundant in SE and SW China, several incompletely known and of uncertain status. [2]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 Ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Dicotyledons
- Subclass:
Dilleniidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Primulanae
()
- R. Dahlgren Ex Reveal, 1996
- Order:
Styracales
()
- Burnett, 1835
- Order:
Styracales
(
- Superorder:
Primulanae
(
- Subclass:
Dilleniidae
(
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Similar Species
Members of the genus Diospyros
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 943 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:
D. abyssinica · D. abyssinica subsp. chapmaniorum · D. abyssinica subsp. reticulata · D. acapulcensis · D. acocksii · D. acreana · D. acris · D. aculeata · D. acuminata · D. acunae · D. acuta · D. adenophora · D. adiensis · D. aequoris · D. affinis · D. aggregata · D. ahernii · D. aifatensis · D. akaraiensis · D. alata · D. alatella · D. albens · D. albiflora · D. alboflavescens · D. alpina · D. amaniensis · D. amara · D. amazonica · D. ambigua · D. amboinensis · D. amisandra · D. amoena · D. amplexicaulis · D. ampullacea · D. analamerensis · D. anceps · D. andamanica · D. andersonii · D. angulata (Bois D'ÉbÈne Feuilles) · D. angustifolia · D. anisandra · D. anisocalyx · D. anitae · D. ankifiensis · D. anosivolensis · D. anzoateguiensis · D. apeibacarpos · D. apiculata · D. araripensis · D. areolata · D. areolifolia · D. argentea · D. argyi · D. armata · D. artanthaefolia · D. artanthifolia · D. arupaj · D. assimilis · D. atra · D. atrata · D. atropurpurea · D. atrotricha · D. attenuata · D. aurea · D. auriculata · D. australis (Black-Plum) · D. austro-africana · D. austro-africana de · D. austroafricana · D. balansae · D. balfouriana · D. bambuseti · D. bangoiensis · D. bangueyensis · D. bantamensis · D. baranensis · D. barberi · D. baroniana · D. barteri · D. batocana · D. baumii · D. beccarii · D. bejaudii · D. bemarivensis · D. benstonei · D. bequaertii · D. bernieri · D. bernieriana · D. bezofensis · D. bibracteata · D. bicolor · D. bipindensis · D. blancoi (Velvet Persimmon) · D. blepharophylla · D. blumutensis · D. boala · D. bodinieri · D. boivini · D. borbonica · D. borneensis
More Info
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Further Reading
- Li Shu-gang (as Lee Shu-kang). 1987. Ebenaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 60(1): 84-154.
Notes
Identifiers
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 879948-1
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 3860968
Footnotes
- Shugang Li, Michael G. Gilbert & Frank White "Ebenaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 15 Page 215. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
- "Diospyros". in Flora of China Vol. 15 Page 215. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
