Diospyros buxifolia (Blume) Hiern

 
  • Family : EBENACEAE
    (Ebony Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : BISTENDU FAMILY (बिसतॆंदु फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System IV) : Ebenaceae
  • Basionym : Leucoxylum buxifolium Blume
  • Synonym(s) : Diospyros microphylla Bedd.
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Diospyros buxifolia (Blume) Hiern
  • Common name : Small-leaved Ebony
  • Vernacular name :
    • Kunchigana mara (Kannada)
    • Elichevian, Elichuzhi, Kattuthuvara, Malamuringa, Thovarakari, Thovara (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Tree
  • Habitat : Tropical evergreen forests, Tropical semi-evergreen forests
  • Comments / notes : Wood is used in making Walking Sticks; Timber is of commercial value.
  • Key identification features : A large tree up to 25 m height; bark lenticellate; Twigs and petiole are hirsutus, Leaves are leaf blade to 4 x 2 cm, elliptic,acute at both ends,subpersistently hirsute,along margin,veins obscure,inflorescence of 1-3 male flowers in minute cymes and of solitary female flowers, calyx 4 lobed, glabrous without, fulvous,pilose along margin,stamens 16, ovary 4-locular.
  • Flower, Fruit : January-July
  • Collector(s) Name : Raja K. Swamy, Noel Sebastian
  • Collection Date : 26/11/2018
  • Collection Nos : KFP 7929, Raghavan 62931, Talbot 375, Talbot 3840; HJCB-1869
  • Collection Locality : Mamalakandam, Idukki district, Kerala
  • Distribution :
    • Karnataka : Ballari district, Dakshina Kannada district, Hassan district, Mysuru district, Shivamogga district, Udupi district, Uttara Kannada district, Chitradurga district
    • Kerala : Kasaragod district, Kannur district, Wayanad district, Kozhikode district, Malappuram district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
    • Tamil Nadu : Coimbatore district
  • Native : Borneo, Cambodia, India, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Islands, Malaya, Maluku, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : Indo-Malesia
  • Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
  • Literature :
    • Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 - Flora of Hassan district, Karnataka
    • Flora of Karnataka, Saldanha, 1984
    • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi
    • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara
    • N.P.Singh, 1988- Flora of Eastern Karnataka
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
    • Herbarium specimen from Mamalakandam, Idukki district, Kerala (not scanned)
    • K.Ravikumar, A.C.Tangavelou, & Navendu Page. (2021). Seed plants of Karnataka, India: A concise dictionary. FRLHT-TDU, National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), Chennai.
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : https://indiatrees-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Diospyros buxifolia
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Diospyros buxifolia. Downloaded on 4 October 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

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.