Diospyros bourdilloni Brandis (EBENACEAE)
Common names
Malayalam: Kari, Kodal, Therikka.
Tamil: Karun chathi.
Distribution: Large tree, 25-30 m tall with black bark. Leaves alternate, drooping, oblong-lanceolate, up to 15 x 5 cm, cuneate at base, long acuminate at apex, glabrous, coriaceous; main nerves 6-8 pairs. Flowers unisexual; male flowers in short axillary cymes; female in short thick-peduncled cymes on old wood, white. Calyx cup-like, 5-lobed, lobes pointed. The Corolla exhibits five lobes. There are 12 to 18 stamens, and female flowers contain 10 staminodes. The ovary is eight-celled, and the fruit is a globose berry, roughly 7.5 cm in diameter, with a dull reddish-tomentose appearance.
Distribution: India: Western Ghats. In evergreen forests up to 800 m. Endemic.