Diospyros hasseltii (PROSEA Fruits)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Diospyros hasseltii Zoll.

Family: Ebenaceae

Synonyms

• Diospyros horsfieldii Hiern.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: semak, kasemak
• Malaysia: merangat (Peninsular)
• Thailand: tako-chan (Bangkok), tako, baneng.

Distribution

Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, Indo-China, Thailand.

Uses

The seeds are edible, they are sweet and slightly astringent. Ripe fruits are inodorous and astringent, eaten by bats and birds. The juice of the fruits is used as a varnish. The wood is good and durable but usually of too small dimensions to be of much use.

Observations

• Dioecious or monoecious tree, 10-30 m tall.
• Leaves oblongoid to elliptic, 12-35 cm × 4-15 cm, flowers 4-5-merous.
• Fruit a globose to ovoid berry, 1.5-3.5 cm in diameter.
• Seeds compressed oblongoid, 1.5-2 cm × 0.7-1 cm × 0.2-0.3 cm, brown, transparent and gelatinous.

Flowering in October-December, fruiting in March-May.

Selected sources

• Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1936-1941. Contributions à l'étude de la flore des Indes Néerlandaises 33. Revisio Ebenacearum Malayensium. Bulletin du Jardin Botanique, Buitenzorg, Série 3. Vol. 15.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen