Diospyros philippinensis

Botanical Description

Diospyros philippinensis is an evergreen tree that can grow from 18 - 33 metres tall. The straight, cylindrical bole can be up to 80cm in diameter[ 372 Title Flowers of India Publication Author Website http://www.flowersofindia.net/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description 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. ]. The tree has been a commercial source of black ebony and has been overexploited to the point that the tree has become rare in the wild. Exploitation of the tree has caused the species to become rare; very little lowland forest remains. Records of Philippine ebony are often from forest fragments smaller than 50 km². Despite a ban on log exports which came into force in 1989, there have been reports of an illegal trade. The plant is classified as 'Endangered' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2013)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].