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Diospyros malabarica; photograph (c) renjus box, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) renjus box, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2025-04-27

Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel.

Indian persimmon; Malabar ebony; Black-and-white ebony; Mountain ebony

Ebenaceae · Assam, Bangladesh +13

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Diospyros malabarica, photograph (c) Mark Clarke, some rights reserved (CC BY)Diospyros malabarica, photograph (c) Mark Clarke, some rights reserved (CC BY)Diospyros malabarica, photograph (c) Mark Clarke, some rights reserved (CC BY)Diospyros malabarica, photograph (c) deepachandran, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Diospyros malabarica, photograph (c) renjus box, some rights reserved (CC BY)Diospyros malabarica, photograph (c) renjus box, some rights reserved (CC BY) 29 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
13.2°C
Record low 10.1 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
34°C
Apr and May at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,488mm
9 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
25–43DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in the habitat's months, not shifted
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes June to September (the habitat's months, not shifted), read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Diospyros malabarica, the gaub tree, Malabar ebony, black-and-white ebony or pale moon ebony, is a species of flowering tree in the family Ebenaceae that is native to the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Diospyros malabarica", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Diospyros

Diospyros is a genus of over 700 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, which are typically dioecious. The majority are native to the tropics and many are of local ecological importance.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Diospyros", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,058 mm of 1,446 mm) falls in June to September, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 27.0 °C against a yearly mean of 26.3 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere. The habitat lies within 10° of the equator, where the shift rule does not apply, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Rain

1,446 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,058 mm of it June to September. Wettest month July at 376 mm, driest month January at 14 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,005 mm to 3,057 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,488 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,446 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 43 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 21, the highest 90th-percentile month 47).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 13.2 °C, the absolute minimum 10.1 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 40.6 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 16.4 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range 9.3 °C to 23.3 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 34.0 °C in April (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 13.2 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 54 to 68% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +100 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Diospyros malabarica through the yearWarmest months April and May, mean daily high 34 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 16.4 °C; 1,446 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.0°10°20°30°40°50°40.6° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER10.1° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0200400600800mm rainDLI 25–43RH 54–68%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 52 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C29 / 22–3030 / 25–3231 / 30–3534 / 30–3834 / 30–3931 / 28–3629 / 26–3229 / 26–3130 / 27–3229 / 28–3328 / 26–3228 / 23–30
Night °C16 / 9–2318 / 12–2421 / 16–2523 / 20–2626 / 22–2725 / 23–2724 / 22–2624 / 21–2624 / 21–2522 / 19–2520 / 15–2417 / 11–24
Rain mm14 / 2–8416 / 1–5226 / 1–7842 / 3–18684 / 9–283189 / 34–710376 / 47–700290 / 32–570203 / 70–377156 / 30–31835 / 8–28215 / 2–170
DLI32 / 28–3638 / 31–4042 / 37–4443 / 37–4740 / 32–4732 / 26–3725 / 23–3627 / 21–3831 / 26–3833 / 29–3530 / 27–3230 / 26–33
RH %57 / 47–6355 / 45–6254 / 43–6257 / 45–6560 / 51–6665 / 57–6968 / 58–7368 / 59–7267 / 59–7062 / 51–6759 / 47–6757 / 48–65
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 52 grid cells holding the 60 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1561:5172 (11.925, 78.625). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 10.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 13.2 °C, 99th-percentile day 40.6 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 52 distinct grid cells holding 60 of the 60 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1561:5172 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 12.00_78.750, lapse-corrected +100 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 477 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeAssam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Sulawesi, Sumatera · introduced: Trinidad-Tobago · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker7.876, 80.72 · in the densest population, 56 records (31% of those in range)
Kew's description“tree” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 181 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 60 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 144 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 2249 km away. 4 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 121 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 181 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Diospyros malabarica, photograph 1did not loadDiospyros malabarica, photograph 2did not loadDiospyros malabarica, photograph 3did not loadDiospyros malabarica, photograph 4did not loadDiospyros malabarica, photograph 5did not loadDiospyros malabarica, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Mark Clarke, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) deepachandran, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA); (c) renjus box, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Ficus benghalensis Ficus benghalensis Indian banyan Photo: CC BY, Sayee GirdhariOcimum tenuiflorum Ocimum tenuiflorum Holy basil Photo: CC BY, Mitul and Vijul SinghTerminalia arjuna Terminalia arjuna Arjun Photo: CC BY, Ravuri Krishna ChaitanyaIpomoea pes-tigridis Ipomoea pes-tigridis Morningglory Photo: CC BY, Raja Sekhar ChimiralaSchleichera oleosa Schleichera oleosa Lac tree Photo: CC BY, Swarochi TathagathAndrographis paniculata Andrographis paniculata Creat Photo: CC BY, Thomas Mesaglio

Other Diospyros 59 in the reference

Diospyros anisandra Diospyros anisandra Ebenaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, ferleyva_Diospyros argentea Diospyros argentea Silver-leaved Ebony Photo: CC BY, Adam Kamal Diospyros armata Ebenaceae Diospyros australis Diospyros australis Ebenaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Greg TasneyDiospyros blancoi Diospyros blancoi Mabolo Photo: CC0, author not statedDiospyros buxifolia Diospyros buxifolia Ebenaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedDiospyros cathayensis Diospyros cathayensis Ebenaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Dieter AlbrechtDiospyros celebica Diospyros celebica Indonesian Ebony Photo: CC BY-SA, StevanopuasaDiospyros chloroxylon Diospyros chloroxylon Green ebony persimmon Photo: CC BY, Ravuri Krishna Chaitanya Diospyros conzattii Ebenaceae Diospyros dasyphylla Ebenaceae Diospyros decandra Diospyros decandra Ebenaceae Photo: CC BY, Utain Pummarin all 60 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Diospyros biflora; Diospyros citrifolia; Diospyros embryopteris; Diospyros glutenifera; Diospyros glutinifera and 9 more. (GBIF Backbone)

Kew accepts as species of their own Diospyros peregrina: older names in GBIF's record of this species that Kew's World Checklist accepts as other species. (WCVP, RBG Kew, file of 2026-06-04)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Ebenaceae
Described by
(Desr.) Kostel.
Native to
Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya +12
Wild records
181 in range · 144 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 17 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (13 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 3 at a herbarium, 1 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 12.00_78.750, lapse-corrected +100 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 27 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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