Diospyros squarrosa Klotzsch

Small deciduous tree or shrub 2-10 m. tall; bark grey or brown, smooth or with close and shallow longitudinal fissures; young shoots pale ferruginous pubescent.. Leaves red when young, drying pale brown with pale yellow nerves above and beneath, obovate, 5.5-12 cm. long, 3-6.5 cm. wide, shortly cuspidate at the apex, cuneate to truncate at the base, subcoriaceous; lower surface densely setulose on the midrib, sparsely so elsewhere; very young leaves ± velvety on both surfaces and mature leaves sometimes entirely glabrous; lateral nerves in 6-9 pairs, prominent beneath; tertiary nerves subscalariform, with the venation closely reticulate, prominent above and more so beneath.. Male flowers (1-)3(-7), in lax cymes borne towards the base of the current year’ s shoot in the axils of fallen reduced leaves and the first-formed foliage leaves; peduncle ± 6 mm. long; pedicels 1-3 mm. long, fulvous-tomentellous; calyx 2.5 mm. long, strigulose-tomentellous outside, glabrous inside, 4-lobed to ± the middle, the lobes ± round; corolla subrotate, 7 mm. long, strigulose on mid-petaline lines but otherwise glabrous; corolla-tube 1.5 mm. long; corolla-lobes 4, ovate-ligulate; stamens 24-28, 4-5 mm. long; filaments 1-1.5 mm. long, glabrous, inserted singly or in pairs on the corolla-tube; anthers linear-lanceolate, apiculate, glabrous or strigulose; rudimentary ovary 1 mm. long and wide, sparsely setulose.. Female flowers solitary, borne as in male; pedicel 4 mm. long; calyx 6 mm. long, more deeply lobed than in male, the lobes markedly inbricate; corolla greenish, 7-8.5 mm. long; staminodes 4, inserted on the corolla-tube and alternating with the lobes, 2 mm. long, glabrous save for a single apical seta; ovary subglobose, 2.5 mm. long and wide, with 8 or 10 uniovulate locules; styles 4(-5), as long as the ovary, ascending, expanding towards apex, fleshy and stigmatic on inner surface.. Fruit dark yellow, subglobose, ± 2 cm. diameter, glabrous, with calyx slightly accrescent ± 1.2 cm. long, the lobes 8 mm. long, 6 mm. wide, reflexed, with conspicuous ± flabellate longitudinal veins.. Seeds 8-10 or sometimes fewer by abortion, often only 1 developing, dark brown, segmentoid, 1.2 cm. long, 6 mm. wide, 5 mm. thick, with wrinkled surface; endosperm ruminate.. Fig. 2/7; fig. 5/1-2.

It is a tropical plant. It can grow on alkaline soils. It grows on termite mounds. It grows between sea level and 1,200 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.

The ripe fruit are eaten.

Can be grown by seedlings.