Evajzp at 21:42, 1 October 2025

2025-10-01T21:42:45Z

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{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2021}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Ebonytreeforest.jpg
|image_caption =
|status = DD
|status_system = IUCN2.3
|status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author1=((Asian Regional Workshop (Conservation & Sustainable Management of Trees, Viet Nam, August 1996))) |year=1998 |title=''Diospyros ebenum'' |volume=1998 |article-number=e.T32296A9688568 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T32296A9688568.en |access-date=10 September 2024}}</ref>
|genus = Diospyros
|species = ebenum
|authority = [[J.Koenig]] ex [[Anders Jahan Retzius|Retz.]]
|synonyms = *''Diospyros glaberrima'' [[Johan Peter Rottler|Rottler]]
*''Diospyros melanoxylon'' [[Carl Ludwig Willdenow|Willd.]]
*''Diospyros membranacea'' [[Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle|A.DC.]]
*''Diospyros reticulata'' var. ''timoriana'' A.DC.
*''Diospyros laurifolia'' [[Achille Richard|A.Rich.]]
*''Diospyros timoriana'' (A.DC.) [[Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel|Miq.]]
*''Diospyros assimilis'' [[Richard Henry Beddome|Bedd.]]
| synonyms_ref = <ref name=WFO>{{cite web |title=''Diospyros ebenum'' J.Koenig ex Retz. |url=https://wfoplantlist.org/taxon/wfo-0000648800-2024-06 |website=[[World Flora Online]] |access-date=12 October 2024}}</ref>
}}

'''Ceylon ebony''' or ''Diospyros ebenum ({{langx|si|කළුවර}} Kaluwara) (''[[Tamil language|Tamil]]: கருங்காலி Karungaali), is a [[species]] of [[tree]] in the genus [[Diospyros]] and the family [[Ebenaceae]]. The tree produces valuable [[Ebony|black wood]].

==Description==
This middle-height evergreen tree grows very slowly, up to {{convert|20|–|25|m|round=5}} tall. The leaves are elliptical with a prolonged oval form, about {{convert|6|-|15|cm|round=0.5}} long and {{convert|3|-|5|cm|round=0.5}} wide. The fruit is not very big, approximately {{convert|2|cm|4=1}} in diameter, resembling a small persimmon fruit.

==Habitat==
The tree occurs in southern [[India]], [[Sri Lanka]] and [[Indonesia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/.../file/9c96051f4234a65407.pdf|title=ResearchGate - Share and discover research|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2017-06-28}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> In Sinhalese, the tree is known as කළුවර ගස් (''Kaluwara Gas''), due to its hard black wood.

==Wood==
The sap wood of ''Diospyros ebenum'' is light-yellowish gray, with a glossy-black core occasionally containing light fibers. The wood also has metallic gloss with fine, smooth texture whose grains can be straight, a bit chaotically organized and wavy.

[[File:Diospyros ebenum 09082017.jpg|thumb|left|Sawn block of ''Diospyros ebenum'']]
In Sri Lanka, it is illegal to harvest and sell ebony wood. It possesses the following valuable qualities: high wood hardness (twice as hard as oak), easy to polish (suitable for high-quality polishing, after which it becomes perfectly smooth), it has practically no pitting, provides glossy smooth surface, water and termite-resistant. The tree's wood density is extremely high (up to {{Convert|1200|kg/m3|abbr=on}}), making it sink in water. It is also hard to treat both manually and mechanically. The wood itself is short grain, subject to cracking.

The polished wood is cold to the touch, and its heat emissions are so high that it causes melting of metal vessels in which the wood is burnt {{citation needed|date=July 2023}}.

==Uses==
In the 16th—19th centuries, the best furniture was made of Ceylon ebony. The wood was preferred for making door and window handles, tableware shanks, while the cuttings were used for knitting needles and hooks or razor handles.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} Today, the wood is commonly used in decorative wooden inlays, handmade artwork, and for parts of musical instruments that tend to receive the most wear: piano keys, fingerboards and necks for fretted and bowed instruments, pegs, tailpieces, and nuts. It's also commonly used in turnery to make knife handles, brush holders, and chopsticks. It is also used to treat eye infections in [[Unani medicine]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Journal of Advances in Pharmacy Medicine and Bioallied Sciences|year=2021|volume=9|issue=2|pages=62–67|title=Medical Importance of Aabnoos (''Diospyros ebenum'' Koeing): A Review|author=Misbahuddin Azhar|author2=Dr. Mustehasan|via=ResearchGate}}</ref>

==Protection==
[[Image:Diospyros ebenum stem.jpg|thumb|''Diospyros ebenum'' bark]]
The high demand of Ceylon ebony wood has threatened this species with extinction. In 1994, the World Conservation Union, currently known as [[International Union for Conservation of Nature|IUCN]], included Ceylon ebony tree into the [[IUCN Red List|Red Book]]. However, as of 1998, IUCN has insufficient data about this species.<ref name=IUCN/> Both [[India]] and [[Sri Lanka]] have laws prohibiting international trade of the wood.{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5279626}}

[[Category:Diospyros|ebenum]]
[[Category:Trees of India]]
[[Category:Trees of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1781]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Anders Jahan Retzius]]

Diospyros ebenum - Revision history

Evajzp at 21:42, 1 October 2025