Flora: It is a shrub or tree and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome. he broad native range of Diospyros abyssinica is Tropical or Sub-Saharan Africa. It is known to be native to: Angola, Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zaïre, and Zimbabwe (EOL 2026, POWO 2025).

This taxon has not previously been reported for the flora of Rwanda, thus representing its first verified record in Rwanda. The present record is based on field-collected material that was taxonomically verified using current regional floras and compared with herbarium material from NHR. Its occurrence extends the known distribution range of the species in central Afrcia and contributes to completing the floristic knowledge of Rwanda. No earlier confirmed records exist in the national or regional literature.

This species is accepted. First published in Bull. Jard. Bot. État Bruxelles 26: 241 (1956) Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève and South African National Biodiversity Institute 2025.

Basionym: Maba abyssinica Hiern 

Synonym(s):
Homotypic Diospyros abyssinica (Hiern) F.White subsp. abyssinica (1956); Mabaabyssinica Hiern (1873) 

Heterotypic: Diospyros welwitschii Hiern (1898); Maba mualala Welw. ex Hiern(1873); Diospyros ubanghensis A. Chev. (1911); Maba ubanghensis A. Chev. (1913); Maba warneckei Gürke (1911)

Taxon Infra-specific: Diospyros abyssinica (Hiern) F.White subsp. abyssinica (1956); Diospyros abyssinica subsp. chapmaniorum F.White (1980); Diospyros abyssinica subsp. reticulata F.White (1988); Diospyros abyssinica subsp. attenuata F.White (1988)