DIOSPYROS,] EBENACEJE. 15 



Male flowers in threes . 



Anthers r.wned, glabrous, stami- 



nodes usualJy eight . . . 3. D. RanjilaH. 



Anthers not awned, pubescent, sta- 

 in inc des twelve . . . 4. D. cordifolia. 



Male flowers in dense axillary clus- 

 ters, anthers glabr< us . . 5. D. Chlorotcylon. 



Stamens many, in two rows, snbeqnal . 6. D. Embryopteris. 



1. D. tomentosa, Eoxb. ffort. Beng. 40; Fl. Ind. ii, 532; Boyle III. 

 262; F.B. I. Hi, 564; Watt E.D. ; Kanjildl For. Fl. Sch. Circ. 222; 

 Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 460 ; Prain Beng. PI. 654 ; D. Melanoxylon, 

 Brandis For. Fl. 294 (in part) ; Ind. Trees 433. D. exsculpta. Buck.- 

 Ham. in Trans. Linn. Soc. XV, 110. Vern. Tendu, mitha tendu, alnus. 



A medium-sized tree with often a very crooked trunk. Baric dark-grey 

 or blackish, exfoliating in rectangular scales. Young parts densely 

 clothed with grey or rusty tomentum. Leaves alternate and sub- 

 opposite, 3-8 in. or more in length, broadly ovate from a rounded or cor- 

 date base, glabrous above ; the lower surface tomentose, becoming 

 glabrous or nearly so when mature, yery coriaceous ; main lateral nerves 

 8-10, impressed on upper surface, prominent beneath; petiole i in. 

 Flowers 4-5-merous, white. MALE flowers in short subsessile drcopirg 

 cymes. Calyx funnel-shaped, widened at the mouth, teeth ovate, iVi 

 in. Corolla fulvous-lanate outside. Stamens 12-16, free, filaments glab- 

 rous, anthers mucronate. FEM. flowers solitary, shortly stalked, larger 

 than the males. Calyx 4-5-gonal. Staminodes 8-10 or fewer, sometimes 

 connate in pairs. Ovary hairy, 4-8-celled; styles 2-3. Fruit globose 

 1-1$ in. in diam, glabrous, smooth, yellow when ripe, pulp sweet. 

 Seeds 4-8, compressed, oblong, albumen ruminate. 



Siwalik range, chiefly on the southern slopes towards the Jumna, sub- 

 Himalayan tracts of Kohilkhand, N. Oudh and Gorakhpur, also in 

 Bundelkhand and Merwara. Flowers in April, and the fruit ripens in 

 June. DISTRIB.: Pn m Bengal and Chota Nagpur to the Cent. Prov- 

 inces and southwards as far as the Godaveri, also in the Siwalik and 

 sub-Himalayan tracts of the Punjab westwards to the Eavi. The 

 heart wood of old trees constitutes the fine black ebony of Northern 

 India, where, especially in the Bijnor district, it is largely utilized in 

 the manufacture of carved walking-sticks, picture frames and other 

 small articles. The fruit contains a sweetish astringent pulp, which is 

 much eaten by the natives. 



2. D. montana, Eoxb. Cor. PL i, 37, t, 48 ; FL Ind. ii, 538 ; Biern in 

 Trans. Camb. Phil. Soc. vii, 220, Brand. For. FL 296 (in part) , Ind. Tre s 

 431 (in part) : Watt E, V. (in part) ; Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 454 (in 



