Diospyros laurina, commonly known as brown ebony, is a species of plant in the persimmon family Ebenaceae native to New Guinea and the eastern tropical coast of Queensland, Australia. It is a shrub or small tree that grows in rainforest. It has the conservation status of Least Concern.
Description Diospyros laurina is a small tree growing up to tall. Leaves are simple and entire (without divisions, lobes or teeth), and are arranged alternately on the twigs. Flowers occur singly in the . The fruit is a three-lobed hairy berry, yellow to reddish, with a large persistent encasing the basal third of the fruit.
This species is dioecious, meaning that (functionally female) and (functionally male) flowers are borne on separate plants.
Distribution and habitat It is an understory tree of rainforest and drier forest types, occurring in Papua New Guinea and Queensland. In Queensland its native range is from Shelburne southwards along the east coast to about Mackay. The altitudinal range is from sea level to about .
Conservation status , this species has been assessed to be of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and by the Queensland Government under its Nature Conservation Act.
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References
External links
Map of herbarium collections of this species at the Australasian Virtual Herbarium Observations of this species on iNaturalist Images of this species on Flickriver.com