Diospyros candolleana Wight (EBENACEAE)
COMMON NAME
Sanskrit: Nila viruksha.
Kannada: Kari mara.
Tamil: Kari maram.
Malayalam: Kari.
Telugu: Jagala ganti.
Description: Trees, up to 15 m tall; branchlets pubescent. Leaves alternate, oblong, up to 15 x 5.5 cm, narrowed or rounded at base, blunty acuminate at apex. Inflorescence of axillary clusters on short tubercles. Flowers unisexual, 5-merous, tawny silky-tomentose, Calyx lobes oblong, acute in male flowers, slightly longer in female flowers. Corolla urceolate. Stamen 10, in pairs. Staminodes are noticeable. The ovary is divided into four cells. The fruit is a round berry, reaching sizes of up to 2.5 cm in diameter, and typically brown. Inside, there are four seeds with a ruminate albumen.
Flowering & Fruiting: March – December.
Distribution: India: In evergreen and moist deciduous forests of Western Peninsular India.
Uses: Timber hard, used in building constructions. A decoction of root-bark is used in rheumatism and swellings.