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Diospyros crassiflora
Ebenaceae FAMILY Endangered

Diospyros crassiflora

Diospyros crassiflora

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The sawdust may cause allergic contact dermatitis in wood workers[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitTree
GrowthSlow

A slow-growing species[1]. The mean diameter growth was 4.5mm per year for trees with a mean height of 14.5 metres and a mean age of 50 years. However, two trees measured over a period of 10 years in central Gabon had an average annual growth rate of only 1mm in diameter[1]. In a 50-years-old plantation in Cameroon, dominant trees were on average 24 metres tall and 22cm in bole diameter, whereas the standing volume was estimated at 320 cubic metres/ha[1]. In Benin the Ejagham recognise four sorts of tree:- Nyareti is a 'female' tree yielding top quality ebony. Num nyareti is the 'male' of this with second grade ebony. Nyareh is 'female' with poor ebony but providing excellent fuel. Num nyareh is its 'male' yielding neither good ebony nor good fuel[2]. Not all Diospyros species produce ebony, but in some a blackening appears on immersion in water for shorter or longer duration according to the species. The water also blackens. Such immersed timber loses its blackening on re-exposure to air and drying. The true blackening of ebony is the result of necrosis in very small spots[2]. A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[1].

Propagation

Seed - it has a very short viability and so should be sown as soon as possible[3]. The flesh should be removed since this contains germination inhibitors[3]. Sow the seed in a shady position in a nursery seedbed. The sowing media for ebony uses soil and fine sand at the ratio 3:1. The seed is planted horizontally or vertically with the radicle end down, with a sowing depth of 1 - 1½ times the thickness of seed. Distance between the seeds is 3 - 5cm. Seeds are very sensitive to desiccation during germination and early growth, so must be regularly watered at this time[3]. Normally the seed will germinate after one week. In one trial, fresh seed, sown one day after collection, showed 85% germination rate within 17 - 65 days[3]. As a rule fresh seeds have a high percentage of fertility. The seedlings develop long taproots at an early stage, often before any appreciable elongation of the shoot takes place. The growth of the seedling is decidedly slow [4]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Diospyros+crassiflora>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  2. [2]The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. — Burkil. H. M. · Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. · 1985 - 2004 ↩︎Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
  3. [3]Seed Leaflets — Various · Forest & Landscape. Denmark · http://en.sl.life.ku.dk/Publikationer/Udgivelser/PopulaerPublikationer.aspx?katid={D28373CC-6EF3-4EF8-B097-6D83FABF209E}&serieid={9F1C3DB1-6E7B-4CF1-AF53-F480B0CB40EF}&sort=title ↩︎A series of leaflets, jointly produced by the University of Copenhagen and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, focussing on seed information for a number species, but also giving a lot of other information about each plant.
  4. [4]The Silviculture of Indian Trees — Troup. R.S. · Oxford, at the Clarendon Press · 1921 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎An excellent treatment.
  5. [5]The Hongmu Challenge; A briefing for the 66th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, January 2016 — Environmental Investigation Agency; London · 2016 · http://www.eia-global.org ↩︎Lists the 33 species used in making Hungmu furniture and the degree of over-exploitation plus recommendations for protecting them.
  6. [6]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  7. [7]Tropix 7 — CIRAD · http://tropix.cirad.fr/en ↩︎An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.