4158

5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial timbers

Diospyros blancoi A.DC.

This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Diospyros in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.

Prodr. 8: 237 (1844).

Diospyros discolor Willd. (1806), nom. illeg., Diospyros philippensis (Desr.) Guerke (1891).

Mabolo, velvet apple, butter fruit (En). Pommier velours (Fr). Indonesia: buah mentega (Malay, Sumatra), bisbul, mabolo (Sundanese). Malaysia: buah lemah, buah sagalat, kayu mantega (Peninsular). Philippines: mabolo, kamagong (general), talang (Tagalog).

The Philippines and Taiwan; cultivated in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Java, and in other tropical countries.

The wood is used as streaked ebony, especially for carvings and special furniture. The tree is often planted for its rather sweet but dry edible fruits, and also as a roadside tree.

A small to medium-sized tree up to 15(—32) m tall, bole branchless for up to 10 m, generally straight and fluted, up to 100 cm in diameter; leaves oblong to elliptical-oblong, 8—30 cm 2.5—12 cm, base usually rounded or slightly cordate, apex pointed, silvery hairy below, tertiary venation reticulate, distinct; male flowers in 3—7-flowered cymes, 4-merous, stamens 24—30; female flowers solitary, 4—5-merous, calyx lobes overlapping, appressed sericeous outside, corolla divided to halfway, staminodes 4—5 or 8—10, ovary with 4—5 styles and 8 or 10 uni-ovulate locules; fruit globose or depressed globose, 7—10 cm in diameter (sometimes larger in fruit trees), velvety. Diospyros blancoi is very common and widespread in the Philippines and is found in both primary and secondary forest, up to 800 m altitude. The density of the wood is about 1090 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content.

[42]Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1936–1955. Revisio Ebenacearum Malayensium. Contributions a l'Ttude de la flore des Indes NTerlandaises XXXIII. Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg, STrie III, 15(1–5): 1–515, 92 plates.
[78]Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd edition. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur. Vol. 1 (A–H) pp. 1–1240. Vol. 2 (I–Z) pp. 1241–2444.
[125]de Guzman, E., Umali, R.M. & Sotalbo, E.D., 1986. Guide to the Philippine flora and fauna. Vol. 3: Dipterocarps, non-dipterocarps. Natural Resources Management Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources & University of the Philippines, Quezon City and Los Baños. xx + 414 pp.
[216]HallT, F., Oldeman, R.A.A. & Tomlinson, P.B., 1978. Tropical trees and forests – an architectural analysis. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York. 441 pp.
[234]Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlands-Indid [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd edition, 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch-Indid, 's-Gravenhage. 1953 pp.
[248]Howard, R.A., 1972. Diospyros blancoi, the correct botanical name of the Mabolo or Velvet apple. American Horticulturist 51: 32–33.
[374]Li, H.-L., 1978. 115. Ebenaceae. In: Li, H.-L. et al. (Editors): Flora of Taiwan. Vol. 4. Epoch Publishing Co., Ltd, Taipei. pp. 99–105.
[527]Reyes, L.J., 1938. Philippine woods. Technical Bulletin No 7. Commonwealth of the Philippines, Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 536 pp. + 88 plates.
[595]Stadelman, R.C., 1966. Forests of Southeast Asia. Princeton, Memphis, Tennessee. 245 pp.
[673]Verheij, E.W.M. & Coronel, R.E. (Editors), 1991. Plant resources of South-East Asia No 2. Edible fruits and nuts. Pudoc, Wageningen. 446 pp.
[690]Weidelt, H.J. (Editor), 1976. Manual of reforestation and erosion control for the Philippines. Schriftenreihe No 22. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, Eschborn. 569 pp.
[705]Whitmore, T.C. & Ng, F.S.P. (Editors), 1972–1989. Tree flora of Malaya. A manual for foresters. 2nd edition. 4 volumes. Malayan Forest Records No 26. Longman Malaysia SDN. Berhad, Kuala Lumpur & Petaling Jaya.

M.S.M. Sosef

Sosef, M.S.M., 1995. Diospyros blancoi A.DC.. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J., Soerianegara, I. and Wong, W.C. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial timbers. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea