Diospyros
Persimmon fruit: berries with the enlarged sepals.
The genus Diospyros belongs to the ebony family ( Ebenaceae ). This genus contains some used as ebony species also the persimmon tree whose wood is used, moreover, as a furniture wood. Common names for the genus are ebony trees and persimmons. Diospyros means " the fruit of Zeus " or " divine fruit."
Description
All Diospyros species are woody plants: they grow as shrubs or trees. There are evergreen and deciduous species from the genus. The bark of the trunk and branches is colored black, the inside yellowish. The heartwood is dark brown to black. The terminal buds are often not trained, sometimes forming the branches with a spiny tip. The leaves are alternate and distichous or spirally on the twigs. The leaves are simple and entire, usually dotted with glands or tiny. Stipules absent.
Many species are dioecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( dioecious ), but there are also hermaphroditic flowers. The radial symmetry flowers are three to achtzählig. The male flowers are in zymösen buds that arise from leaf axils of young branches. The female flowers are in leaf axils, but individually. The three to five, rarely up to eight sepals are fused and form a pointed, hairy bud. The three to five, rarely up to eight petals are fused tube- to bell-shaped. The colors of the petals only range from white to cream color to yellow. The male flowers contain four or more ( up to two hundred) stamens in pairs, stand together or arranged in two circles; the ovary is still rudimentary. In the female flowers three to eight carpels are fused into a superior ovaries; it is often divided by false septa in a total of three to 16 ovary chambers. The three to eight free or partially fused stylus end in either a simple or bipartite often scar. Rudimentary stamens ( staminodes ) may be present in the female flowers.
The fleshy, sometimes almost leathery berries contain one to 16, usually flattened seeds. During the petals fall off, increase the sepals and stick mostly to the fruit.
The chromosome number is 2n = 30, whereby species with multiple chromosomes are known.
Dissemination
Diospyros is essentially a pantropical genus with few representatives in temperate regions. Seen plants Geographically it is a characteristic representative of the " miombo forest " (a type of savanna ). They are also found in the Alborz Mountains at altitudes of 0-1000 meters.
System
Even Linnaeus described in 1753 in two ways: Diospyros lotus and Diospyros virginiana ( Species Plantarum, 2, 1057-1058 ). Synonyms for Diospyros L. are: Cargillia R.Br., Cavanillea Desr, Ebenus Kuntze, Embryopteris Gaertn, Guaiacana Duhamel, Idesia Scop, Maba JRForst. .. . & G.Forst. , Mabola Raf., Macreightia A.DC., Noltia Thonn. , Paralea Aubl. , Pimia Seem. , Rhaphidanthe Hiern ex Gürke, Ropourea Aubl. , Royena L., Tetraclis Hiern.
Today the genus Diospyros contains about 400 to 500 species. For example, 60 species are found in China. Some selected are listed here:
- Diospyros affinis Thwaites
- Diospyros apeibacarpos Raddi
- Diospyros attenuata Thwaites
- Diospyros australis ( R.Br. ) Hiern
- Diospyros austroafricana De Winter
- Mabolo ( Diospyros blancoi A.DC. )
- Diospyros burmanica short
- Diospyros caribaea ( A.DC. ) Standlschmaus.
- Diospyros calycantha O.Schwarz
- Diospyros cathayensis Steward
- Diospyros cauliflora flower
- Diospyros celebica Bakh.
- Diospyros clavigera C.B.Clarke
- Diospyros conzattii Standlschmaus.
- Diospyros crassiflora Hiern
- Diospyros crassinervis ( Krug & Urb. ) Standlschmaus.
- Diospyros decandra Lour.
- Black Sapote ( Diospyros digyna Jacq. )
- Genuine ebony tree ( Diospyros ebenum J.Koenig )
- Diospyros elliptica ( JRForst. & G.Forst. ) PSGreen
- Diospyros eriantha Champ. ex Benth.
- Diospyros glandulosa Lace
- Diospyros glaucifolia F.P.Metcalf
- Diospyros grisebachii ( Hiern ) Standlschmaus.
- Diospyros guianensis ( Aubl. ) Gürke
- Diospyros halesioides Griseb.
- Diospyros ierensis Britton
- Diospyros inconstans Jacq.
- Diospyros insignis Thwaites
- Diospyros insularis Bakh.
- Diospyros japonica sieve. & Zucc.
- Diospyros juruensis A.C.Sm.
- Kaki or Persimmon ( Diospyros kaki Thunb. ) - With the known, Kaki or Sharon fruit as mentioned fruits.
- Diospyros humilis ( R.Br. ) F.Muell. Native Australia.
- Diospyros kirkii Hiern
- Diospyros littorea ( R.Br. ) Kosterm.
- Diospyros longibracteata Lecomte
- Lotus plum ( Diospyros lotus L.) - Fruit small, the tree is occasionally seen in botanic gardens in Central Europe.
- Star apple or ape plum ( Diospyros lycioides Desf. )
- Diospyros macrophylla flower
- Diospyros malabarica ( Desr. ) Kostel.
- Diospyros maritima Blume
- Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb.
- Diospyros mollis handle.
- Diospyros montana Roxb.
- Diospyros moonii Thwaites
- Diospyros morrisiana Hance
- Diospyros natalensis ( Harv. ) Brenan
- Diospyros nitida Merr.
- Diospyros oblongifolia ( Thwaites ) Kosterm.
- Diospyros oldhamii Maxim.
- Diospyros oleifera W.C.Cheng
- Diospyros pallens ( Thunb. ) F.White
- Diospyros papuana Valeton ex Bakh.
- Diospyros philippinensis A.DC.
- Diospyros pilosanthera Blanco
- Diospyros rosei Standlschmaus.
- Diospyros rubra Lecomte
- Diospyros rugosula R.Br.
- Diospyros rumphii Bakh.
- Diospyros sapota Roxb.
- Diospyros sintenisii ( Krug & Urb. ) Standlschmaus.
- Diospyros sonorae Standlschmaus.
- Diospyros subtruncata Hochr.
- Diospyros sundaica Bakh.
- Diospyros tessellaria Poir.
- Diospyros texana Scheele
- American persimmon or Persimmon, Light Ebony ( Diospyros virginiana L.) - fruits are edible, but less than persimmon, the tree is occasionally seen in botanic gardens in Central Europe
- Diospyros whyteana ( Hiern ) F.White
There are crosses / hybrids of Diospyros kaki Diospyros virginiana and from
- USA / Canada (several varieties)
- Ukraine ( ' Rosseyanka ' = ' Russian Beauty' )
Swell
- S. Li, M. G. Gilbert & F. White: Ebenaceae, in the Flora of China, Volume 15, pp. 215 ff: Diospyros
- H.R. Coleman: Diospyros in the Western Australian Flora: Online, 2008.
- Ebenaceae (including Diospyros ): on the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website - APWebsite.