Diospyros blancoi

Common Name: Velvet AppleClimate: Tropical Plant Description : It is a tropical tree that grows well in in a diversity of grounds, A evergreen tree, 7-15m tall, trunk 50 cm diameter, crown conical. “Leaves alternate, oblong, 8-30 cm x 2.5-12 cm, entire, base usually rounded, apex pointed, coriaceous; upper surface dark-green, shiny, glabrous, lower surface silvery hairy; young leaves pale-green to pinkish, silky-hairy; petiole up to 1.7 cm long. ” Male flowers in 3-7 flowered axillary cymes; pedicel short; calyx tubular but deeply 4 lobed, about 1 cm long; corolla slightly larger than calyx, tubular, 4-lobed, creamy-white; stamens 24-30, united in pairs at base; female flowers solitary, axillary, subsessile, slightly larger than male flowers, with 4-5 staminodes. Fruit a globose or depressed-globose berry, 5-12 cm x 8-10 cm, velvety, brown-reddish, capped at base with the persistent stiff calyx; skin thin, densely coated with short golden-brown hairs, emanating a strong, cheese-like odour; flesh whitish, firm, rather dry, sweet, astringent, aromatic. Seeds 0-10, wedge-shaped, up to 4 cm x 2.5 cm x 1.5 cm, brown. , referring to the hairy fruit. Fruiting period: August to October