Diospyros dichrophylla Diospyros dichrophylla Diospyros dichrophylla (Gand.) De Winter aka poison star-apple is a Southern African tree belonging to the ebony family of Ebenaceae and closely related to the Persimmon ("Diospyros kaki"). Some authors describe it as being poisonous, which is puzzling as generally ripe fruits from this genus are quite tasty and edible, though green fruits are rich in tannins. The genus of "Diospyros" includes some 700 species, many of which are ornamental and many which bear edible and often cultivated fruit. This species grows into a medium-sized tree of up to 15 m tall. It is multi-stemmed and forms a
Diospyros tessellaria flowers and fleshy fruits. Like other species of ebony trees, Mauritian ebony trees yield a dark black ebony wood. In its natural habitat, it was a massive canopy tree - common in the dry and upland wet forests of the island. Vice-Admiral Wybrandt van Warwijck landed on Mauritius on September 17, 1598, thus beginning Dutch involvement with the island. In 1638, settlers from the Dutch East India Company (VOC) attempted to colonize the island and set up an organized ebony business to sell the rare black wood. However, due to issues with cyclones destroying the settlement, rats destroying crops, settlers