4 WRIGHT : THE GENUS DIOSPYROS 



regarded as a polypetalous group allied to the Anonacese, 

 and the latter contending that they showed strong affinities 

 to the Ternstrcemiaceas. 



The technical value of the timber had also gained a high 

 reputation, and many botanists discussed the origin of the 

 term " ebony," Bertolini* contending that the ebony of the 

 ancients was not furnished by the Ebenacese. 



From the time of publication of the monograph by A. de 

 Candolle in 1844 up to 1873 no work of great systematic 

 importance was produced. In the meantime several species 

 had been described or figured by Wight (1850), Dalzell 

 (1852), Martins and Miguel (1856), Thwaites (1854-64), 

 Beddome and Kurz (1871), Mueller and Bentham (1864-9), 

 Oliver (1868-77), Eichler (1870-80), Bentham and 

 (1872-3), and Grisebach in 1872, These, together with short 

 accounts of the fossils, affinity, and the timbers, were all 

 that appeared in the thirty years subsequent to the mono- 

 graph by A. de Candolle. 



In 1873, however, Hiernf published bis monograph, which 

 is without question the most comprehensive work on the 

 subject. This work is purely systematic, and deals with the 

 characters of the floral and vegetative members, the distri- 

 bution of the species, their probable affinity, and the several 

 uses to which the parts of certain species are put. Hiern 

 distinguishes five genera, two being endemic in Africa 

 (Royena and Euclea), one (Tetraclis) in Madagascar, and the 

 others (Maba and Diospyros) represented in many parts of 

 the world. The genus Diospyros, as described by Hiern, 

 contains 160 species, and is therefore by far the most im- 

 portant in the order. With it Hiern has united the genera 

 Cargillia, R. Br. ; Leucoxylum, Blume ; Noltia, Schum.; and 

 Gunisanthus and Rospidios, DC. The second largest genus 

 Maba includes Macreightia, A. DO., and Rhipidostigma, 

 Dalz. The three remaining genera contain a total of 



* Bertolini, Miscellanea Botanica, XII., 1849. 



t W. P. Hiern, A Monograph of Ebenaceae, Traus. Camb. Phil. Sou. 

 Cambridge, 1873. 



