Common Name:

General Information

Diospyros hebecarpa is a tree with a dark, compact crown; it can vary considerable in height, from 7 - 25 metres tall. The straight, cylindrical bole can be free of branches for up to 15 metres in the largest specimens and up to 40cm in diameter[, ].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and source of wood. The wood is sometimes traded.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Southeast Asia - Indonesia, Philippines, to New Guinea, northern Australia, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia.

Habitat

Mixed secondary forest[]. Drier types of rain forest and monsoon forest at elevations up to 600 metres in Australia, where it is most common in gallery forests[].

Properties

Habit	Tree
Height	15.00 m
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Prefers a position in light shade[]. Grows best in a well-drained, acid soil[].
A slow-growing plant, especially when young[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[]. The fruit are 15 - 25mm in diameter in one report[], 30 - 40mm in another[], and up to 120mm in a third[]. They are covered with short hairs. The seeds are flattened and there are about 8 seeds in a fruit[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The heartwood is jet black, but small and often defective; it is clearly demarcated from the sapwood, which is almost white, turning yellowish in seasoning, but often staining, either evenly or in streaks and mottlings, to light gray[].

We do not have any more specific information for this species. However, though varying widely in the relative proportion and the colouring of sapwood and heartwood, all the woods of the genus Diospyros are practically indistinguishable as regards their structure, as described below:-[]
Whether or not a given species produces heartwood depends largely on the size the tree has attained, but evidently also on other conditions, as there is a wide variation in the relative amounts of sapwood and heartwood even in individuals of the same species. When produced, the heartwood can be black with rosy, yellowish, brownish, or ashy streaks, sometimes it is nearly or totally black; it is generally sharply demarcated from the thin to very wide band of whitish, yellowish, or red sapwood. The texture is fine, smooth and (especially in the heartwood) very dense; the grain is generally very straight. The wood is hard to very hard; heavy to very heavy; the sapwood is tough and flexible whilst the heartwood is brittle; the heartwood is very durable, the sapwood moderately so. It is difficult to season well, logs almost invariably checking in several directions from the heart outward, while sawn lumber must be stacked carefully and weighted to prevent warping; once thoroughly dried, however, it becomes very stable. Its density makes it difficult to work, but it takes a beautiful surface under sharp tools[].
Small trees containing little or no heartwood are used locally for posts, beams, joists, rafters, window sills, parts of agricultural implements, etc.; also, in lumbering, small poles are used for skids on account of their hardness, toughness and smooth wearing qualities. The heartwood (or sometimes sap and heart together) is used for scabbards, canes, hilts, tool handles, gunstocks, saw frames, etc.; it is a favorite for musical instruments, especially finger boards and keys of guitars; furniture, cabinetwork, inlaying; paper weights, inkstands and similar desk supplies; the sapwood, which is almost as hard as the heartwood and very much tougher, is an excellent material for T-squares and other drawing instruments, for shuttles, bobbins, spindles, golf-club heads and shafts, axe, pick, and hammer handles, etc[].

Propagation

Seed - it has a very short viability and so should be sown as soon as possible[]. The flesh should be removed since this contains germination inhibitors. Sow the seed in a shady position in a nursery seedbed. The sowing media for ebony uses soil and fine sand at the ratio 3:1. The seed is planted horizontally or vertically with the radicle end down, with a sowing depth of 1 - 1½ times the thickness of seed. Distance between the seeds is 3 - 5cm. Seeds are very sensitive to desiccation during germination and early growth, so must be regularly watered at this time. Normally the seed will germinate after one week[].
As a rule fresh seeds have a high percentage of fertility. The seedlings develop long taproots at an early stage, often before any appreciable elongation of the shoot takes place. The growth of the seedling is decidedly slow [].

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