Diospyros

Diospyros is a genus of over 700 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. Individual species valued for their hard, heavy, dark timber, are commonly known as ebony trees, while others are valued for their fruit and known as persimmon trees. Some are useful as ornamentals and many are of local ecological importance. Species of this genus are generally dioecious, with separate male and female plants.
Taxonomy and etymology
The generic name Diospyros comes from a Latin name for the Caucasian persimmon (D. lotus), derived from the Greek διόσπυρος : dióspyros, from diós and pyrós. The Greek name literally means "Zeus's wheat" but more generally intends "divine food" or "divine fruit".
The genus is a large one and the number of species has been estimated variously, depending on the date of the source. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, list has over 1000 entries, including synonyms and items of low confidence. Over 700 species are marked as being assigned with high confidence.
The oldest fossils of the genus date to the Eocene, which indicate by that time Diospyros was widely distributed over the Northern Hemisphere.
Chemotaxonomy
The leaves of Diospyros blancoi have been shown to contain isoarborinol methyl ether (also called cylindrin) and fatty esters of α- and β-amyrin. Both isoarborinol methyl ether and the amyrin mixture demonstrated antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Trichophyton interdigitale. Anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties have also been shown for the isolated amyrin mixture.
Ecology
Diospyros species are important and conspicuous trees in many of their native ecosystems, such as lowland dry forests of the former Maui Nui in Hawaii, Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests, Khathiar–Gir dry deciduous forests, Louisiade Archipelago rain forests, Madagascar lowland forests, Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests, New Caledonian sclerophytic vegetation, New Guinea mangroves or South Western Ghats montane rain forests. The green fruits are rich in tannins and thus avoided by most herbivores; when ripe they are eagerly eaten by many animals however, such as the rare Aders' duiker (Cephalophus adersi).
The foliage is used as food by the larvae of numerous Lepidoptera species:
Arctiidae:
Eupseudosoma aberrans
Eupseudosoma involutum (snowy eupseudosoma)
Hypercompe indecisa
Geometridae:
Gymnoscelis rufifasciata (double-striped pug) – recorded on persimmons
Limacodidae:
Monema flavescens
Lycaenidae:
Neopithecops zalmora (Quaker)
Nymphalidae:
Charaxes khasianus (Kihansi charaxes) – recorded on D. natalensis
Dophla evelina (redspot duke) – recorded on D. candolleana
Saturniidae:
Actias luna (Luna moth) – recorded on persimmons
Callosamia promethea (promethea silkmoth) – recorded on persimmons
Citheronia regalis (regal moth) – recorded on American persimmon (D. virginiana)
Tortricidae:
"Cnephasia" jactatana (black-lyre leafroller moth)
An economically significant plant pathogen infecting many Diospyros species – D. hispida, kaki persimmon (D. kaki), date-plum (D. lotus), Texas persimmon (D. texana), Coromandel ebony (D. melanoxylon) and probably others – is the sac fungus Pseudocercospora kaki, which causes a leaf spot disease.
Use by humans
The genus includes several plants of commercial importance, either for their edible fruit (persimmons) or for their timber (ebony). The latter are divided into two groups in trade: the pure black ebony (notably from D. ebenum, but also several other species), and the striped ebony or calamander wood (from D. celebica, D. mun and others). Most species in the genus produce little to none of this black ebony-type wood; their hard timber (e.g. of American persimmon, D. virginiana) may still be used on a more limited basis.
Leaves of the Coromandel ebony (D. melanoxylon) are used to roll South Asian beedi cigarettes. Several species are used in herbalism, and D. leucomelas yields the versatile medical compound betulinic acid. Extracts from Diospyros plants have also been proposed as novel anti-viral treatment. Though bees do not play a key role as pollinators, in plantations Diospyros may be of some use as honey plants. D. mollis, locally known as mặc nưa, is used in Vietnam to dye the famous black lãnh Mỹ A silk of Tân Châu district.
The reverence of these trees in their native range is reflected by their use as floral emblems. In Indonesia, D. celebica (Makassar ebony, known locally as eboni) is the provincial tree of Central Sulawesi, while ajan kelicung (D. macrophylla) is that of West Nusa Tenggara. The emblem of the Japanese island of Ishigaki is the Yaeyama kokutan (D. ferrea). The Gold apple (D. decandra), called "Trái thị" in Vietnamese, is a tree in the Tấm Cám fable. It is also the provincial tree of Chanthaburi as well as Nakhon Pathom Provinces in Thailand, while the black-and-white ebony (D. malabarica) is that of Ang Thong Province. The name of the Thai district Amphoe Tha Tako, literally means "District of the Diospyros pier", the latter being a popular local gathering spot.
Selected species
Diospyros abyssinica
Diospyros acuminata
Diospyros alatella
Diospyros andamanica
Diospyros apiculata
Diospyros areolata
Diospyros artanthifolia
Diospyros atrata
Diospyros attenuata
Diospyros australis – yellow persimmon, black plum, "grey plum"
Diospyros beccarioides
Diospyros borneensis
Diospyros britannoborneensis
Diospyros buxifolia
Diospyros cambodiana
Diospyros candolleana
Diospyros celebica – Makassar ebony
Diospyros chaetocarpa
Diospyros chamaethamnus – sand apple
Diospyros chloroxylon
Diospyros clementium
Diospyros confertiflora
Diospyros cordata
Diospyros coriacea
Diospyros crassiflora – Gaboon ebony, Gabon ebony, African ebony, West African ebony, Benin ebony
Diospyros crockerensis
Diospyros curranii
Diospyros daemona
Diospyros decandra – gold apple
Diospyros dichrophylla
Diospyros dictyoneura
Diospyros diepenhorstii
Diospyros discocalyx
Diospyros discolor – kamagong, mabolo, butter fruit, velvet-apple
Diospyros duclouxii
Diospyros ebenum – Ceylon ebony, India ebony, "ebony"
Diospyros elliptifolia
Diospyros eriantha
Diospyros eucalyptifolia
Diospyros euphlehia
Diospyros evena
Diospyros everettii
Diospyros fasciculosa
Diospyros ferox
Diospyros ferrea
Diospyros ferruginescens
Diospyros foxworthyi
Diospyros frutescens
Diospyros fusiformis
Diospyros geminata
Diospyros hallieri
Diospyros havilandii
Diospyros hebecarpa
Diospyros hillebrandii
Diospyros hirsuta
Diospyros humilis – Queensland ebony
Diospyros inconstans
Diospyros insignis
Diospyros insularis – Papua ebony
Diospyros kaki – Japanese persimmon, kaki persimmon, Asian persimmon
Diospyros keningauensis
Diospyros korthalsiana
Diospyros kurzii – Andaman marblewood
Diospyros lanceifolia
Diospyros lateralis
Diospyros leucomelas
Diospyros longibracteata
Diospyros lotus – date-plum, Caucasian persimmon, lilac persimmon
Diospyros lunduensis
Diospyros lycioides – bushveld bluebush
subsp. guerkei
subsp. nitens
subsp. sericea
Diospyros mabacea – red-fruited ebony
Diospyros macrophylla
Diospyros maingayi
Diospyros major
Diospyros malabarica – black-and-white ebony, pale moon ebony, Malabar ebony, gaub tree
Diospyros maritima
Diospyros marmorata – marblewood ebony, "marblewood"
Diospyros melanoxylon – Coromandel ebony, East Indian ebony
var. tupru
Diospyros mespiliformis – jackalberry, "African ebony"
Diospyros mindanaensis
Diospyros montana
Diospyros mun – mun ebony
Diospyros muricata
Diospyros neurosepala
Diospyros nigra – black sapote, chocolate pudding fruit, "black persimmon"
Diospyros oligantha
Diospyros oocarpa
Diospyros oppositifolia
Diospyros ovalifolia
Diospyros parabuxifolia
Diospyros pendula
Diospyros penibukanensis
Diospyros pentamera – myrtle ebony, grey persimmon, black myrtle, grey plum
Diospyros perfida
Diospyros pilosanthera
Diospyros piscicapa
Diospyros plectosepala
Diospyros puncticulosa
Diospyros pyrrhocarpa
Diospyros quaesita
Diospyros racemosa
Diospyros revaughanii
Diospyros rhombifolia
Diospyros ridleyi
Diospyros rigida
Diospyros rufa
Diospyros sandwicensis
Diospyros seychellarum
Diospyros siamang
Diospyros simaloerensis
Diospyros singaporensis
Diospyros squamifolia
Diospyros squarrosa – rigid star-berry
Diospyros styraciformis
Diospyros subrhomboidea
Diospyros subtruncata
Diospyros sulcata
Diospyros sumatrana
Diospyros tessellaria – Mauritius ebony
Diospyros texana – Texas persimmon, Mexican persimmon, "black persimmon"
Diospyros thwaitesii
Diospyros tuberculata
Diospyros ulo
Diospyros venosa
var. olivacea
Diospyros virginiana – American persimmon, eastern persimmon, common persimmon, possumwood, "simmon", "sugar-plum"
Diospyros walkeri
Diospyros wallichii
Diospyros whyteana – Cape ebony
See also
Adriaan van Royen
Ebonol
Tonewood
References
External links
Ericales genera
Fruit trees
Dioecious plants