4202

5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial timbers

Diospyros toposia Buch.-Ham.

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

Trans. Linn. Soc., London 15: 115 (1827).

Diospyros incisa Buch.-Ham. ex Wallich (1831), Diospyros foveo-reticulata Merr. (1909), Diospyros collinsae Craib (1920).

Malaysia: keruping besi, kayu arang pokok ikan mati (Peninsular). Philippines: bulatlat (Tagalog), kulitum (Iloko). Cambodia: kulen prey (Kmer), guingni (Moi). Thailand: mao-lek (south-western, peninsular), phlap-khaihan (peninsular). Vietnam: c[aa]y thi (Annam).

India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and the Philippines.

The wood is used as black ebony. The ripe fruits are edible and used to poison fish. The gum exuding from freshly cut trees has been used against toothache.

A medium-sized tree up to 27 m tall, bole up to 50 cm in diameter, bark surface smooth, brown to black, inner bark reddish; leaves oblong-ovate to oblong-obovate, 5—33 cm 2—14 cm, base acute to rounded, apex acuminate, glabrous, tertiary venation finely reticulate, prominent on both sides; male flowers in 3—12-flowered cymes, 4-merous, stamens (18—)32—96; female flowers in 1—5-flowered cymes, 3—4-merous, calyx lobes valvate-plicate, velutinous on both sides, corolla divided to one-quarter, staminodes 12—16, ovary with (3—)4 short styles and 4—10 uni-ovulate locules; fruit ovoid to ellipsoid, 2—6 cm 2—5 cm, glabrous except for the apex and base. Diospyros toposia has been divided into 2 varieties: var. toposia and var. toposioides (King & Gamble) Phengklai (synonym: Diospyros toposioides King & Gamble). The latter has secondary veins which are distinctly impressed above and hairy filaments. Diospyros toposia occurs scattered in lowland and hill forest, up to 1000 m altitude.

[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.
[120]Dassanayake, M.D. & Fosberg, F.R. (Editors), 1980–. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Amerind Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
[457]Ng, F.S.P., 1977. Notes on the systematy of Malayan phanerogams XXVI. Ebenaceae. Malaysian Forester 40: 210–248.
[495]Phengklai, C., 1978. Ebenaceae of Thailand. Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) 11: 1–103.
[544]Salvosa, F.M., 1963. Lexicon of Philippine trees. Bulletin No. 1. Forest Poducts Research Institute, College, Laguna. 136 pp.
[575]Smitinand, T. & Larsen, K. (Editors), 1970–. Flora of Thailand. The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department, Bangkok.

M.S.M. Sosef

Sosef, M.S.M., 1995. Diospyros toposia Buch.-Ham.. 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