Diospyros rugosula R.Br.

Brown, R. (1810), Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae: 526. Type: Carpentaria, Groote Eylandt, 15 January 1803, R. Brown iter Austral. 2827.

Ebony

Deciduous shrub or tree to 7 m tall.

Twigs and petioles clothed in short erect brown hairs at least when young. Leaf petiole 2-6.5 mm long. Leaf blades about 2-9(-14) x 2-4(-5.5) cm. Glands sparse, usually four to six flat glands present on the lower surface of the leaf blade on either side of the midrib. Lateral veins 4-5 pairs, forming loops inside the blade margin.

Male inflorescence axes to 1 cm long; mostly 2 or 3 flowered; calyx tube 1-1.5 mm long, lobes 4 ca. 2 mm long; corolla contorted, tube 2-2.5 mm long, lobes 4 ca. 5-6 m long. Stamens 14-16, filaments adnate to corolla tube in pairs; pistillode globular, less than 1 mm. Female flowers solitary, peduncle 3.5-5 mm long, with 2 foliaceous bracts; calyx tube 2-2.5 mm long, lobes 4 ca. 5.5-7 mm long; corolla contorted, tube 2.5-3 mm long, lobes 4, ca. 4.2-4.8 mm long; staminodes 4; styles 4, fused at base.

Fruits globular, about 17-25 mm diam, glabrous. Calyx lobes recurved, persistent at the base of the fruit. Seeds 2-8, about 15 mm long, embryo about 7 mm long. Cotyledons as long as but wider than the radicle.

Features not available.

Occurs in WA and NT. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 250 m. Grows in monsoon forest and vine thickets. Probably also occurs in Indonesia and Timor.

Diospyros cordifolia Roxb., Plants of the Coast of Coromandel 1 : 38 (1796). Type: .. among the mountains in the Circars. [Misapplied name in Australia].