Herbarium JCB

Diospyros buxifolia (Blume) Hiern

Family : EBENACEAE
(Ebony Family)
Family (Hindi name) : BISTENDU FAMILY (बिसतॆंदु फैमिली)
Family (as per The APG System III) : EBENACEAE
Basionym : Leucoxylum buxifolium Blume
Synonym(s) : Diospyros microphylla Bedd.
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Diospyros buxifolia (Blume) Hiern
Common name : Small-leaved Ebony
Vernacular name : Kunchigana mara (Kannada); Elichevian, Elichuzhi, Kattuthuvara, Malamuringa, Thovarakari, Thovara (Malayalam)
Habit : Tree
Habitat : Evergreen and semi-Evergreen forests
Comments / notes : Wood is used in making Walking Sticks; Timber is of commercial value.
Key identification features : A large tree up to 25 m height; bark lenticellate; Twigs and petiole are hirsutus, Leaves are leaf blade to 4 x 2 cm, elliptic,acute at both ends,subpersistently hirsute,along margin,veins obscure,inflorescence of 1-3 male flowers in minute cymes and of solitary female flowers, calyx 4 lobed, glabrous without, fulvous,pilose along margin,stamens 16, ovary 4-locular.
Flower, Fruit : January-July
Collector(s) Name : Raja K. Swamy & Noel Sebastian
Collection Date : 26-11-2018
Collection Nos : KFP 7929, Raghavan 62931, Talbot 375, Talbot 3840; HJCB-1869
Collection Locality : Mamalakandam, Idukki district, Kerala
Distribution :
- Karnataka : Ballari district, Dakshina Kannada district, Hassan district, Mysuru district, Shivamogga district, Udupi district, Uttara Kannada district
- Kerala : Kasaragod district, Kannur district, Wayanad district, Kozhikode district, Malappuram district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
Native : India
World Distribution : Indo-Malesia
Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
Literature : Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 - Flora of Hassan district, Karnataka; Flora of Karnataka, Saldanha, 1984; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara; N.P.Singh, 1988- Flora of Eastern Karnataka; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Herbarium specimen from Mamalakandam, Idukki district, Kerala (not scanned)
Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Diospyros buxifolia. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.