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<big>''[[Diospyros gracilipes]]'' Hiern</big>

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Diospyros gracilipes'' (PROTA)}}

:Protologue: Monogr. Eben.: 191 (1873).

:Family: Ebenaceae

== Vernacular names ==

The exudate from the bark may cause black marks and vesicles on the skin.

Evergreen small tree up to 15 m tall; bole usually low-branching, up to 30(–40) cm in diameter; bark surface smooth to more or less rough, blackish brown, inner bark thin; crown with spreading branches; twigs usually glabrous. Leaves alternate, simple and entire; stipules absent; petiole 3–10 mm long; blade elliptical-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, (3–)6–12 cm × (1.5–)2–6 cm, cuneate to rounded at base, short-acuminate at apex, wavy at margins, thin-leathery, pinnately veined with 4–7 pairs of lateral veins. Inflorescence an axillary fascicle, often on older branches or on the bole, up to 20-flowered. Flowers unisexual, regular; pedicel slender, up to 5 cm long, strongly elongating in fruit; calyx cup-shaped, 3–8 mm long, short-hairy, with tube about as long as the 4 lobes, strongly enlarging in fruit; corolla slightly longer than calyx, with long tube and 4–6 rounded lobes; male flowers with 8–16 stamens, filaments very short; female flowers larger than male ones, with c. 6 rudimentary stamens, ovary superior, ovoid, reddish brown hairy, 8–10-celled, styles 8–10, fused at base. Fruit an ovoid to oblong berry c. 3 cm long, brownish green, covered by a whitish powder, up to 8-seeded. Seeds elongate, flattened, c. 12 mm long, blackish. Seedling with epigeal germination.

''Diospyros gracilipes'' is variable and some varieties have been distinguished. It grows slowly and tolerates shade. It usually flowers in May–June and September–December and fruits ripen 3–6 months later. Ripe fruits are eaten by lemurs, which may disperse the seeds.

''Diospyros'' is a large pantropical genus of about 500 species; in mainland tropical Africa about 90 species occur and several produce valuable timber or edible fruits. Over 100 species have been recorded for Madagascar, several of which provide valuable ebony wood, and possibly the total number of species is around 200. About 14 species are endemic to the Mascarene islands.

=== ''Diospyros platycalyx'' ===

''[[Diospyros platycalyx]]'' Hiern is also reported to provide blackish heartwood, but is also under high pressure caused by exploitation in its distribution area in western Madagascar.

== Ecology ==

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