4195

5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial timbers

Diospyros rumphii Bakh.

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

Gard. Bull. Str. Settl. 7: 184 (1933).

Diospyros utilis Koord. & Valeton ex Koord. (1898) non Hemsl.

Macassar ebony (En). Indonesia: maitem, moyondi (Sulawesi), mologotu (Moluccas).

Sulawesi and the Moluccas.

Diospyros rumphii is an important source of black and streaked ebony.

A medium-sized to large tree up to 47 m tall, bole branchless for up to 24 m, up to 200 cm in diameter, with buttresses up to 5(—10) m high, bark surface fissured, grey or brown to black, inner bark brown to red; leaves ovate-lanceolate to oblong-elliptical, 10—25 cm 3—10 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, apex acuminate to obtuse, minutely white hirsute below, tertiary venation reticulate, depressed above when fresh but slightly prominent on both surfaces when dry; male flowers in 3-flowered cymes, 4-merous, stamens 16; female flowers in 1—3-flowered cymes, 4-merous, calyx lobes imbricate, sericeous on both sides, corolla divided to halfway; fruit depressed globose, 3.5—5 cm wide, glabrescent except for the apex and base, with 4—10 seeds. Diospyros rumphii occurs in lowland forest, up to 400 m altitude. The heartwood may be either entirely black, or black with greyish or red streaks.

[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.
[115]Dahms, K.-G., 1982. Asiatische, ozeanische und australische Exporthölzer [Asiatic, Pacific and Australian export timbers]. DRW-Verlag, Stuttgart. 304 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.
[376]Lie, G. L., 1969. Kaju ebony (Diospyros spp.) [Ebony wood (Diospyros spp.)]. Seri Bibliografi No 17. Lembaga Perpustakaan Biologi dan Pertanian 'Bibliotheca Bogoriensis', Bogor. 12 pp.
[403]Martawijaya, A. et al., 1986. Indonesian wood atlas. Vol. 1. Forest Products Research and Development Centre, Bogor. 166 pp.
[586]Soerianegara, I., 1967. Beberapa keterangan tentang djenis-djenis pohon eboni Indonesia [Some notes on Indonesian ebony tree species]. Rimba Indonesia 12(2–4): 29–54.

M.S.M. Sosef

Sosef, M.S.M., 1995. Diospyros rumphii Bakh.. 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