Diospyros discolor

Scientific name: Diospyros discolor Willd.

Family: Ebenaceae

Synonym: Diospyros blancoi A. DC., Diospyros philippinensis A. DC.

Bengali/Vernacular name: Beelati gab.

Tribal name: Gab gach (Chakma).

English name: Valvet apple, Butter fruit tree, Peach bloom, Mabolo.

Description of the plant: A medium-sized evergreen tree, with straight trunk and short horizontal branches, crown conical, bark fairly smooth, greyish-brown. Leaves alternate, oblong, coriaceous, base usually rounded or slightly cordate, apex pointed, upper surface dark-green, shiny, glabrous, lower surface silvery hairy. Flowers unisexual, 4-merous, female flowers are axillary and solitary, larger than the male. Fruit fleshy, globose, up to 8-10 centimeters in diameter, densely covered with short brown hairs, reddish or purplish colour when ripe.

Plant parts used: Bark.

Medicinal uses: Bark juice is mixed with the goat milk and this mixture is taken for some days to treat dysentery.

Barks of the plant are used for the treatment of itching.

Decoction made from the barks is taken twice a day for seven days to treat cough.
Bark is used for the treatment of fever and diarrhoea.

A fresh juice extracted from the bark is applied on the biting place twice a day for the treatment of snake bite.

Distribution: It is cultivated in homesteads in many districts, mostly in the southern district, including Pirojpur, Barisal, Patuakhali, Satkhira and Noakhali.

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