Trees, shrubs or undershrubs, rarely scandent, usually dioecious
Leaves
usually alternate, simple, chartaceous to coriaceous
Flowers
in axillary, subsessile clusters, cymes, pseudoracemes, or solitary, unisexual or falsely bisexual and functionally male
Calyx
(4)5(-7)-lobed, persistent and mostly accrescent, deeply lobed or bladder-shaped and toothed on mouth
Corolla
urceolate, 3-5-lobed
Stamens
3-15, in a single or double whorl
Ovary
on somewhat fleshy disc, 2-16-locular, with 1 or 2 pendulous ovules in each locule
Fruit
a berry with several seeds, rarely only 1, becoming dry and dehiscing slowly
Seeds
usually elongate, encircled by a single, thin, ± straight line; endosperm bony or flinty, occasionally ruminate
x = 15 (high polyploidy, B-chromosomes)
Nomenclature:
Diospyros
L.
Linnaeus: 1057 (1753)
Hiern: 476 (1906)
De Winter: 54 (1963)
White: 251 (1983)
Royena
L.
Linneaus: 397 (1753)
Hiern: 445 (1906)
Distribution & Notes:
Global
: Species ± 475, cosmopolitan in tropical, subtropical and temperate areas (America ± 80, Africa ± 94, Madagascar ± 100, Asia ± 200)
Southern Africa
: ± 20 species and several subspecies, Namibia, Botswana, Northern Province, North-West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Swaziland, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Northern, Western and Eastern Cape
References:
DE WINTER, B. 1963.
Ebenaceae
.
Flora of southern Africa
26
HIERN, W.P. 1906.
Ebenaceae
.
Flora capensis
4,1
LINNAEUS, C. 1753.
Species plantarum
. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
WHITE, F. 1983.
Ebenaceae
.
Flora zambesiaca
7,1
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