Diospyros montana Roxb.
Family
Ebenaceae
Synonyms
Diospyros cordifolia Roxb., Diospyros diversilimba Merr. & Chun, Diospyros calcarea Fletcher.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Mentua pungsu (Peninsular). |
| Indonesia | Bidara gunung (Java), morotoalah (Sumba), morotombo (Sulawesi). |
| Philippines | Antinagam (Ilocos Norte), kamagong-bundok, kamagong-liitan (Filipino). |
| Burma (Myanmar) | Gyok tawbut. |
| Thailand | Tan-dam, thanfaiphi. |
| Vietnam | th[ij] n[us]i, nh[oo]n. |
Geographical Distributions
D. montana can be found in India, Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, Hainan, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, the Philippines, Sulawesi, and northern Australia.
Description
D. montana is a small tree up to 15 m tall. The bole is up to 60 cm in diametre. Twigs and trunk are with occasional spines.
The leaves are ovate to obovate, 1.5-15 cm x 1-7.5 cm, rounded to cordate at the base while the apex is obtuse to obtusely acuminate. The leaves are initially sparsely hairy above and below but later becoming smooth on both surfaces. The tertiary venation is reticulate, impressed above and inconspicuous below.
The male flowers are in 3-10-flowered cymes and 4(-5)-merous. There are 16-20 stamens. The female flowers are solitary, 4-merous with 4 styles ovary.
Fruit is spherical, 1-4 cm in diametre and hairless.
Ecology / Cultivation
D. montana is found in monsoon forest, primary as well as secondary, up to 600 m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
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Plant Resources of South-East Asia No.12(3): Medicinal and poisonous plants 3.
