Webster's Online Dictionary
with Multilingual Thesaurus Translation

 
Earth's largest dictionary with more than 1226 modern languages and Eve!

Definition: Diospyros

Part of Speech Definition
Noun 1. A genus of trees or shrubs that have beautiful and valuable wood.[Wordnet].

Source: WordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

 Top

"Diospyros" is a common misspelling or typo for: Disproof, Dispirit, Diasporas, Disports, Dispirits.

Date "Diospyros" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1828. (references)

Specialty Definition: Diospyros

Domain Definition
Botanical Spp. "lama" (references)
Wikipedic Diospyros is a genus (including what used to be Maba) of about 450-500 species of deciduous and evergreen trees. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate climates. The genus includes species of commerical importance, either for their edible fruit (including the persimmons, D. kaki and D. virginiana) or for their timber. These include the two trade groups of ebony: the pure black ebony (notably D. ebenum, but also several other species) and the striped ebony (coromandel, a.o. D. celebica)). In most species in the genus this black ebony-type wood is (almost completely) absent: the timbers of such species may find restricted use, e.g. D. virginiana. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Common Expressions: Diospyros

Expressions Definition
Diospyros ebenum Tropical tree of southern Asia having hard dark-colored heartwood used in cabinetwork. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
Diospyros kaki Small deciduous Asiatic tree bearing large red or orange edible astringent fruit. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
Diospyros kurzii Large Asiatic tree having hard marbled zebrawood. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
Diospyros lotus An Asiatic persimmon tree cultivated for its small yellow or purplish-black edible fruit much valued by Afghan tribes. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
Diospyros virginiana Medium-sized tree of dry woodlands in the southern and eastern United States bearing yellow or orange very astringent fruit that is edible when fully ripe. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
Diospyros virginiana Diospyros virginiana, the American persimmon, is a tree native to the Eastern United States. Its ranges from New England to Florida, and west to Texas and Kansas. The tree grows wild but has been cultivated for its fruit and wood since 1629. (references)
Genus Diospyros A genus of trees or shrubs that have beautiful and valuable wood. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Specialty Expressions: Diospyros

Expressions Domain Definition
Diospyros ebenaster Botanical The fruits are edible. They are also made into preserves and brandy-like ferments. The bark is probably piscicidal. Green fruits are used as a barbasco. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Extended Definition: Diospyros

Diospyros

Diospyros
Diospyros chloroxylon
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Eudicotyledoneae
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Ericales
Family: Ebenaceae
Genus: Diospyros
L.
Species

450-500, see text

Synonyms

Cargillia R.Br.
Cavanillea Desr. (non Medik.: preoccupied)
Ebenus Kuntze (non L.: preoccupied)
Embryopteris Gaertn.
Guaiacana Duhamel (nom. illeg., nom. superfl.)
Idesia Scop. (non Idesia Maxim., nom. conserv.)
Maba J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.
Mabola Raf.
Macreightia A.DC.
Noltia Thonn.
Paralea Aubl.
Pimia Seem.
Rhaphidanthe Hiern ex Gürke
Ropourea Aubl.
Royena L.
Tetraclis Hiern
[1]

Diospyros is a genus of about 450-500 species of deciduous and evergreen trees. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. Commonly, they are known as ebony trees and persimmon trees.

Ecology

Diospyros species are important and conspicuous trees in many of their native ecosystems, such as Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests, Kathiarbar-Gir dry deciduous forests, Louisiade Archipelago rain forests, Madagascar lowland forests, Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests, New Guinea mangroves or South Western Ghats montane rain forests. The fruit are rich in tannins and thus avoided by most herbivores when unripe; when ripe they are eagerly eaten my many animals however, such as the rare Aders' Duiker (Cephalophus adersi).

The foliage is used as food by the larvae of numerous Lepidoptera species:

Arctiidae:

Geometridae:

  • Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata)

Lycaenidae:

  • Quaker (Neopithecops zalmora)

Nymphalidae:

Saturniidae:

  • Luna Moth (Actias luna)
  • Promethea Silkmoth (Callosamia promethea)
  • Regal Moth (Citheronia regalis), recorded on American Persimmon (D. virginiana)

Tortricidae:

  • Black Lyre Leafroller Moth (Cnephasia jactatana)

An economically significant plant pathogen infecting many Diospyros species – D. hispida, Kaki Persimmon (D. kaki), Date-plum (D. lotus), Texas Persimmon (D. texana), Ebony Persimmon (D. melanoxylon) and probably others – is the sac fungus Pseudocercospora kaki, which causes a leaf spot disease.

Use by humans

Ebony Persimmon leaves are used to wrap beedi
Betulinic acid can be isolated from Diospyros leucomelas

The genus includes several plants of commercial importance, either for their edible fruit (persimmons) or for their timber. The latter are the two trade groups of ebony: the pure black ebony (notably from D. ebenum, but also several other species), and the striped ebony or Calamander wood (Macassar, Mun and others). Most species in the genus produce little to none of this black ebony-type wood; their timber (e.g. of American Persimmon, D. virginiana) may still be used on a more limited basis. Leaves of the Ebony Persimmon (D. melanoxylon) are used to roll the South Asian beedi cigarettes. Several species are used in herbalism, and D. leucomelas yields the versatile medical compund betulinic acid. Though bees do not play a key role as pollinators, in plantations Diospyros may be of some use as honey plant. D. mollis, locally known as mặc nưa, is used in Vietnam to dye the famous black lãnh Mỹ A silk of Tân Châu district.

These trees are well-known in their native range, and consequently much used as floral emblems. In Indonesia, Coromandel Ebony (D. celebica, known locally as eboni) is the provincial tree of Central Sulawesi, while ajan kelicung (D. macrophylla) is that of West Nusa Tenggara. The emblem of the Japanese island of Ishigaki is the Yaeyama kokutan (D. ferrea). In Thailand, the Gold Apple (D. decandra) is the provincial tree of Chanthaburi and Nakhon Pathom Provinces, while Black-and-white Ebony (D. malabarica) is that of Ang Thong Province. The name of the Thai district Amphoe Tha Tako literally means "District of the Diospyros pier" after a famous local gathering spot.

Species

Diospyros geminata foliage and young fruit
Diospyros rhombifolia is a deciduous species
Diospyros whyteana twig with young fruit
American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) flower

See also

  • Adriaan van Royen
  • Ebonol
  • Tonewood

Footnotes

  1. USDA (1998)

References

  • United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (1998): Germplasm Resources Information Network – Diospyros. Version of 1998-APR-28. Retrieved 2009-JAN-12.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Diospyros". Image Credit.
 bookmark   email   print   tweet   facebook  



Topics by Level of Interest: Diospyros

Topics sorted by level of Interest Level (1=low, 600=high)     Topics sorted Alphabetically Level (1=low, 600=high)
Diospyros 36     Diospyros 36
Diospyros mespiliformis 7     Diospyros mespiliformis 7

Source: the editor, created by/for EVE to gauge likely levels of human interest in linguistically triggered topics (compiled across various sources, such as Wikipedia and specialty expression glosses).