Diospyros atrata (Thwaites) Alston

 
  • Family : EBENACEAE
    (Ebony Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : BISTENDU FAMILY (बिसतॆंदु फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System IV) : Ebenaceae
  • Synonym(s) : Diospyros embryopteris var. atrata Thwaites
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Diospyros atrata (Thwaites) Alston
  • Common name : Cubicle fruit
  • Vernacular name :
    • Thumbi (Tamil)
  • Habit : Tree
  • Habitat : Tropical evergreen forests
  • Key identification features : Large buttressed tree, reaching up to 25 meters in height; Bark smooth, black, and flaky; Trunk straight, tall, with prominent basal buttresses in mature individuals; Young branchlets terete, yellowish; Buds apical and axillary buds black, covered with fine hairs; Leaves simple, alternate, distichous, 8.5–20 × 3–7 cm, elliptic-oblong to elliptic-lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate with a blunt tip, base acute to attenute, coriaceous, entirely glabrous; Inflorescence dioecious, male flowers axillary, borne in cymes of 3-8 flowers, female flowers solitary, axillary, borne on short pedicels; Fruit berry, globose, upto 7cm in diameter, rusty brown scurfy tomentum, fruiting calyx foliaceous, densely black-haired on the inner surface.
  • Flower, Fruit : June-October
  • Distribution :
    • Kerala : Idukki district
    • Tamil Nadu : Coimbatore district, Tirunelveli district
  • Native : Sri Lanka
  • Exotic/Native : Exotic
  • World Distribution : Sri Lanka (Kandy District)
  • Conservation Status : Vulnerable (VU)
  • Literature :
    • Narasimhan, D. & Irwin, Sheeba. (2021). Flowering Plants of Tamil Nadu: A Compendium.
    • French Institute, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs HIFP_005816 - https://scientific-collections.gbif.org/institution/62bde1c6-6b9e-4e8d-8456-ac7f21f594bc/specimens?entity=4035425683&taxonKey=4071041
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : https://indiatrees-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Diospyros atrata
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Diospyros atrata. Downloaded on 3 October 2026.

Botanical Description

Habitat

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

GBIF Distribution

Creative Commons License
India Trees and Vegetation Types by Herbarium JCB is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.