Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel.
| Kannada Name : | Holitupare |
| Common Name : | Gaub tree, Malabar ebony |
| Family Name : | Ebenaceae |
| Scientific Name : | Diospyros malabarica |
| Species Type : | Indigenous |
| Phenology : | Evergreen |
| Conservation Status : | Not known |
| Flowering Period : | May - June |
| Fruiting Period : | March - April (the following year) |
| Origin : | Indian subcontinent, South east Asia |
Uses
The bark, leaves, flowers and fruits are much used in Ayurvedic medicine. The juice of the fresh bark is useful in the treatment of bilious fevers. The seeds are used as a treatment for diarrhoea and chronic dysentery.
Description
Evergreen, dioecious tree, up to 35 m tall. The bark is black, smooth, and the inner bark turns bluish on exposure to sunlight. Leaves simple, alternate or sub-opposite, oblong-lancelate, glabrous, acute or obtuse. Flowers unisexual, the male flowers are formed in 3-5 flowered cymes in leaf axils; Female flowers are solitary. Fruit a berry, globose, yellow when ripe, pulp glutinous; 4-8 seeded, compressed.
