Rakta Roda, Diospyros virginiana - Plant

Rakta Roda is valued for their hard, heavy, dark timber, and some of their fruit. Some are used as ornamentals and many are of local ecological importance.
Small trees to 4 m tall; bark dark grey, fissured, rough. Leaves alternate, 1-2.5 x 1-1.8 cm, obovate-oblong or spathulate, base cuneate to attenuate, apex obtuse to emarginate, coriaceous; petiole to 2 mm long. Flowers 1to3, in axillary fascicles, white. Male flower: calyx pale yellowish, c. 2 mm long, cup-shaped, lobes 3, 1-1.5 mm long, triangular-ovate, acute; corolla tube 5 -6 mm long, tubular, lobes 3, 1 -1.5 mm long, oblong-ovate, acute ; stamens 6, c. 2 mm long. Female flower: similar to male one; ovary c. 2 mm long, globose, silky-pubescent, stigmas 3. Berry 5-7 mm long, subglobose, yellow to brownish red. Seeds 1-3, c. 4 mm long, wedge-shaped.

Plant Specifications

• Plant Height: 12 inch (30 cm)
• Plant Spread: 3 inch (8 cm)

*above specification are indicative only. actual dimensions may vary by +-10%

• Common Name: Narrow-leaved ebony tree
• Maximum Reachable Height: Up to 15 m
• Flower Colour: Red,yellow, orange
• Bloom Time: February to may
• Difficulty Level: Easy to grow

Planting and care

Flowers are dioecious - male flowers are 3 in axillary clusters, female flowers occur singly in leaf axils. Flowers are white. Berry is ellipsoid, to 1 cm long. Fruiting sepals are 3, slightly enlarged. Narrow-Leaved Ebony is endemic to the Western Ghats mostly confined to Central Sahyadri above Chikmagalur Region. Rakta Roda careNarrow-Leaved Ebony is a small tree, up to 10 m tall. Bark is brown, tubercled; blaze light orange yellow. Branchlets are round with short internodes, terminal young branchlets are densely yellow hairy.
Leaves are simple, alternate. Leaf stalk is up to 0.5 cm long, rusty hairy when young. Leaves are 2.2-8 x 1-2.5 cm, narrow-elliptic, tip bluntly pointed to blunt, base narrow, margin thick and distinctly wavy, leathery, hairy when young, otherwise hairless above.

• Sunlight: Full Sun
• Watering: Medium
• Soil: Well-drained soil
• Temperature: 20 to 22 degrees C
• Fertilizer: Apply any organic fertilizer
• Harvest Season: Not defined

Rakta Roda special featureRakta Roda is valued for their hard, heavy, dark timber, and some of their fruit. Some are used as ornamentals and many are of local ecological importance.

Rakta Roda uses

Ornamental Use:
The plant is used for the ornamental purpose
Medicinal Use:
Not defined
Culinary Use:
Not defined