EBENACEA. SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. 3 
melanoxylon* of India, Diospyros Dendo* of western tropical Africa, Diospyros Ebenuster? of 
Malaya, and Diospyros tessellaria* of Mauritius. The beautifully variegated and valuable calamander 
or coromandel wood is produced by Diospyros quesita® and Diospyros oppositifolia® of Ceylon. 
In the Phillipine Islands the leaves and fruit of Diospyros Cunalon’ are used to dye cloth black. 
A decoction of the bark of Diospyros Paralea® is used as a febrifuge in French Guiana,” and that of 
The bark 
of Diospyros melanoxylon is astringent and tonic, and is employed in India in decoction, in the treat- 
ment of diarrhoea and diseases of debility." 
in Madagascar, and the unripe fruits of several species are used in the tropics to kill fish.* In India the 
the North American Diospyros Virginiana has been found efficacious for the same purpose. 
The fruit of Diospyros toxicaria”™ is said to poison birds 
glutinous pulp of Diospyros peregrina, which is rich in tannic acid, is employed in filling the seams 
of fishing boats, for preserving fishing nets and lines, and in book-binding;” and the oil obtained by 
boiling the seeds, bark, and leaves is used in native medicines.” 
Diospyros nigricans, Dalzell, Hooker Jour. Bot. and Kew Gard. 
Misc. iv. 110 (not A. de Candolle) (1852). 
The best Indian ebony is produced by this tree, which is com- 
mon in the mountain forests of southern India and of Ceylon, and 
The heart- 
wood is black, sometimes streaked with yellow or brown, and is 
ranges eastward to Sumatra and the Molucca Islands. 
very heavy and close-grained. The sapwood, which is white or 
gray, is hard and strong, although not durable (Brandis, Forest Fl. 
Brit. Ind. 296. — Gamble, Man. Indian Timbers, 251). 
1 Roxburgh, Pl. Corom. i. 36, t. 46 (1795); Fl. Ind. ed. 2, ii. 
530. — Willdenow, Spec. iv. 1109.— A. de Candolle, Prodr. viii. 
224, — Hiern, Trans. Camb. Phil. Soc. xii. pt. i. 159 (in part). — 
Brandis, /. c. 294 (in part). — C. B. Clarke, Hooker f. Fl. Brit. Ind. 
iii. 564. 
Diospyros Wightiana, A. de Candolle, J. c. 223 (1844). — Bed- 
dome, FU. Sylv. S. Ind. i. t. 67. 
Diospyros dubia, A. de Candolle, J. v. (1844). 
Diospyros melanoxylon is common in the forests of the Deccan 
peninsula and of Ceylon, where it sometimes attains the height of 
eighty feet. The heartwood is black, sometimes streaked with 
purple, and is hard and heavy. The thick sapwood is light pink, 
soft, and soon decays; but it is used in building and for many 
domestic purposes (Gamble, J. c. 249). 
2 Hiern, 7. c. 195, t. 10; Oliver Fl. Trop. Afr. iii. 523. 
8 Retzius, Obs. Bot. v. 31 (1798). — A. de Candolle, J. c. 235. — 
Hiern, J. c. 244. 
Diospyros digyna, Jacquin, Hort. Schenbr. iii. 
(1789). — A. de Candolle, J. c. 238. 
Diospyros revoluta, Poiret, Lam. Dict. v. 435 (1804). — A. de 
Candolle, J. c. 234. 
Diospyros obtusifolia, Willdenow, Spec. iv. 1112 (1805). — 
Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth, Nov. Gen. et Spec. iii. 253, 
t. 247. — A. de Candolle, J. c. 227. 
Diospyros Sapota, Roxburgh, Fl. Ind. ed. 2, ii. 535 (1832). — 
Bot. Mag. lxix. t. 3988. — A. de Candolle, /. ¢. 228. 
Diospyros decandra, Bojer, Hort. Maurit. 200 (not Loureiro) 
(1837). 
Sapota nigra, Blanco, Fl. Filip. 409. (1837). 
Diospyros membranacea, A. de Candolle, J. c. 227 (1844). 
Diospyros nigra, Blanco, l. c. ed. 2, 211 (1845). 
Diospyros laurifolia, A. Richard, Fl. Cub. iii. 86, t. 55 
(1845). 
Diospyros Brasiliensis, Miquel, Martius Fl. Brasil. vii. 5, t. 2, £. 
2 (1856). 
35, t. 313 
The fruit of several species is edible. 
Diospyros Ebenaster is carefully cultivated in the Phillipine Is- 
lands as a timber-tree, and appears to have been early introduced 
into tropical America, where it has now become occasionally natu- 
ralized. The fruit, although of poor quality, is eaten, and is said 
to be used before it is ripe to poison fish. ‘The leaves possess caus- 
tic properties (Blanco, J. c.). 
* Poiret, Lam. Dict. v. 430 (1804). — A. de Candolle, 7. c. 225. — 
Hiern, J. c. 176. 
Diospyros Ebenum, Poiret, 1. c. 429 (not Koenig) (1804). 
Diospyros reticulata, Willdenow, J. c. 1109 (1805). — A. de 
Candolle, 7. c. (excl. var. Timoriana). 
5 Thwaites, Enum. Pl. Zeylan. 179 (1860). — Hiern, 1. c. 174. — 
C. B. Clarke, J. c. 560. 
6 Thwaites, J. c. 181 (1860). — Hiern, J. c. 157. —C. B. Clarke, 
I. c. 565. 
7 A. de Candolle, /. c. 237 (1844). — Hiern, J. c. 197. 
8 Blanco, J. c. 304. 
® Steudel, Nomen. Bot. ed. 2, i. 514 (1840). — A. de Candolle, 
l. c. 224. — Miquel, l. c. 6, t. 3. — Hiern, 7. c. 240. 
Paralea Guianensis, Aublet, Pl. Guian. i. 576, t. 231 (1775). 
Diospyros ferruginea, Splitgerber, Vriese Ned. Kruidk. Arch. 
327 (1848). 
Diospyros longifolia, Spruce, Jour. Linn. Soc. v. 7 (1861). 
10 Miquel, 2. c. 10. 
1 Warming, Pharmacopea of India, 132. 
12 Hiern, J. c. 175. 
18 Hiern, I. c. 30. 
14 Diospyros peregrina. 
Embryopteris peregrina, Gertner, Fruct. i. 145, t. 29 (1788). 
Garcinia Malabarica, Desrousseaux, Lam. Dict. iii. 701 (1789). 
Embryopteris glutinifera, Roxburgh, Pl. Corom. i. 49, t. 70 
(1795). — Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. t. 843, 844. 
Diospyros Embryopteris, Persoon, Syn. ii. 624 (1807). — A. de 
Candolle, J. c. 235.— Miquel, Fl. Ned. Ind. Bat. ii. 1048. — 
Thwaites, J. c. 178. — Beddome, J. c. t. 69. —C. B. Clarke, 1. c. 
556. 
Diospyros glutinosa, Roxburgh, Fl. Ind. ed. 2, ii. 533 (1837). 
Diospyros Malabarica, Kosteletzky, Med. Pharm. Fi. iii. 1099 
(1834). 
Embryopteris gelatinifera, Don, Gen. Syst. iv. 41 (1837). 
16 Brandis, J. v. 298. — Balfour, Cyclopedia of India, ed. 3, i. 
954. 
16 Bengal Dispens. 1842, 428. — Fliickiger & Hanbury, Pharma- 
copea, 360. 
