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Diospyros montana
Ebenaceae FAMILY

Diospyros montana

Diospyros montana

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The fruits are poisonous[1]. This could very well refer to the immature fruit[PFAF]. The crushed leaves and fruits are used for stupefying fish[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
Growth—

A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Propagation

Seed - it has a very short viability and so should be sown as soon as possible[2]. The flesh should be removed since this contains germination inhibitors[2]. 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[2]. 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[2]. 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 [3]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Diospyros+montana>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  2. [2]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.
  3. [3]The Silviculture of Indian Trees — Troup. R.S. · Oxford, at the Clarendon Press · 1921 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎An excellent treatment.
  4. [4]Flora of Peninsula Malaysia — http://www.tfbc.frim.gov.my ↩︎In the process of being assembled (15/07/09), it is currently a series of check sheets giving species name, brief description, habitat and high quality photos of the plants.
  5. [5]Flowers of India — http://www.flowersofindia.net/ ↩︎A wed site of native Indian plants, plus cultivated and naturalized species. It has good quality photos and terse details on more than 3,000 species and cultivars.
  6. [6]A Manual of Indian Timbers. — Gamble. J. S. · Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh · 1972 · ISBN - ↩︎First written in the 19th century, but still a classic, giving a lot of information on the uses and habitats of Indian trees. Not for the casual reader.
  7. [7]Commercial Woods of the Philippines; Their Preparation and Uses — Schneider E.E. · Bureau of Forestry; Manilla. · 1916 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎A series of booklets dealing with various aspects of the Philippine forests. This volume looks at the preparation and uses of the commercial woods of the Philippines. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  8. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎