Byron Flora and Fauna Study 1999 - Byron Shire Council

A GREENPRINT FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Red-fruited Ebony (Diospyros mabacea FAMILY EBENACEAE)
Introduction. A very rare rainforest tree for which there is only one record for the Shire. A draft Recovery Plan has been
prepared (Murray 1995), and was re-drafted in 1997.
Conservation status. Red-fruited Ebony is listed on Schedule 1 (Endangered) of the TSC Act, 1995 and has a ROTAP
code of 2ECi (Briggs and Leigh 1996).
Habit. A tree up to 25 m tall (Floyd 1989).
Flowers. Small, silvery-fawn, in clusters in leaf axils. Flowering in September (Floyd 1989). No information about
pollination is available.
Fruit. A scarlet, globular-elliptic, pointed berry 2.5-4.5 cm long (Floyd 1989). Four-celled with up to two seeds per cell.
Fruit ripe January to March. Dispersal agents are unknown, seed dispersal is inefficient, and probably effected only by
gravity and water (Murray 1995).
Habitat. Floyd (1989) describes Red-fruited Ebony as occurring in lowland subtropical and riverine rainforests.
Distribution. Floyd (1989) reported Red-fruited Ebony to be restricted to the Tweed River, NSW, and recorded from
Oxley River at Tyalgum and upstream; Eungella; North Arm Road, Murwillumbah; Stotts Island NR. A recent record in
the Byron Shire is from Main Arm on the Brunswick River (B. O’Donovan pers. comm.). It is also reserved at Limpinwood
NR (Briggs and Leigh 1996). A historic herbarium record is labelled ‘Tweed River, Mullumbimby’ and is considered most
likely to mean Murwillumbah.
Regeneration and horticulture. Germination from fresh seed may take up to seven months (Floyd 1989). Seeds may
remain viable for one to two years in suitably moist dark conditions (Murray 1995). In the nursery, seedlings are slow to
establish and susceptible to fungal attack. Natural regeneration is limited to two of the known localities, where seedlings
and saplings occur within a radius of 50 m of mature trees (Murray 1995). The seedlings are shade-tolerant.
Economic and cultural significance. The timber of Red-fruited Ebony is reddish and suitable for cabinet work (Floyd
1989). Otherwise, no particular use or significance is known apart from the aesthetic and ecological values of all native
rainforest species.
Abundance and reservation. Red-fruited Ebony is extremely rare, is not reserved in the Shire, and is regarded as inadequately
conserved (Briggs and Leigh 1996).
Threats and amelioration. Threats include habitat clearance and modification, combined with a limited ability to disperse
seed effectively (Murray 1995). The very low number of plants in the Byron Shire (and elsewhere) suggests that active
management will be necessary to ensure the survival of Red-fruited Ebony in the Shire. Lowland rainforest is scarce in
the Shire and usually requires weed management and planting to expand small areas. Community awareness of Redfruited
Ebony may bring other sites to light.
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