DIOSPYROS 



KURZII 



THE EBONY TREE 



D.E.P., 

 iii., 136-56. 

 Ebony. 



Ebony. 



Timber. 



Trade. 



Gab. 



Gum. 

 Pulp. 



Dye and Tan. 



Per- 

 simmon. 



Preserve. 



Marble- 

 wood. 



DIOSPYROS, Linn.; Fl. Br. Ind., iii., 553-72; Gamble, Man. 

 Ind. Timbs., 453-63 ; Cooke, FL Pres. Bomb., i., 98-107 ; Prain, Beng. 

 Plants, i., 651-4 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 428-36 ; EBENACE^;. A fairly im- 

 portant genus which embraces about 59 species of Indian forest trees. 

 They occur chiefly in South India, Ceylon, Burma and Eastern Bengal. 

 Only four extend to Northern India, while the genus may be said to be 

 not represented in the Eastern Himalaya. All the species yield useful 

 timbers, of which the best are the various forms of Ebony (L>. Ebenutu 

 and -D. melanowylon), known in the vernaculars of India as ebans 

 or tendu. The most important are : 



D. Ebenum, Koenig. ; Roxb., Fl. Ind., ii., 529 ; Trimen, Fl. Ceyl., iii., 94. The 

 EBONY, ebans, abnus, tendu, khenda, temru, tai, acha, nulluti, shengutan, kaka- 

 tati, tuki, kare, bale, mushtimbi, karunkdli, mallali, kaluwara, etc., etc. A large 

 tree not very common in India, where it is found in the Deccan and Karnatak, 

 chiefly in dry evergreen forests in the Ceded Districts. In Ceylon, however, 

 it is one of the chief woods, very common in the dry regions of the Northern 

 Provinces. [Cf. Herbert Wright, The Genus Diospyros in Ceylon, its Morphology, 

 Anatomy and Taxonomy, 1904.] 



This species is perhaps the best ebony-yielding tree and the only one which 

 gives a black heart-wood without streaks or markings. Gamble says 74 Ib. is 

 the average weight per cubic foot for the heart-wood. In Europe it is exten- 

 sively used for ornamental turnery, cabinet-work, piano keys, rulers, etc., and 

 in China for chopsticks, pipes, carved stands and vases. Ebony does not appear 

 to be exported from India to any material extent, but in Ceylon the average sales 

 for 1892-1902 were 300 tons yearly. The average price Gamble gives at 180 

 to 185 Us. per ton. The Indian Forester (1905, xxxi., 37, app.) gives 6 to 

 10 per ton as the price of East Indian Ebony. 



D. Embryopteris, Pers.; Roxb., Fl. Ind., ii., 533; Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind., ii., 

 30, 115, 240, etc.; iii., 233; Talbot, List Trees, etc., 211; Trimen, I.e. 93. 

 The gab, makur-kendi, kusi, timbori, tumbika, pani-chika, karunthali, kavi-kattai, 

 hollet-upra, tumil, tinduki, nitta-tumma, kusharta, hige, bantha, vananchik, etc., 

 etc. A dense evergreen tree found throughout the greater part of India in shady 

 wet places and near streams. It is frequently cultivated both for ornament and 

 for its large red, velvety fruits. 



Many writers speak in general terms of a gum obtained from this plant, but 

 do so in such a manner as to suggest a confusion between a true gum and an 

 extract prepared from the fruit, the pulp of which is used in book-binding, and 

 in place of tar for paying the seams of boats. According to some writers the 

 pulp is used direct ; others say an extract or decoction is prepared. Buchanan- 

 Hamilton (Stat. Ace. Dinaj., 1833, 152) thus describes the process pursued in 

 Bengal : " It (the fruit) is beaten in a large mortar and the juice expressed. 

 This is boiled, mixed with powdered charcoal and applied once a year to the 

 outside of the planks." Duncan (Monog. Dyes and Dyeing in Assam, 1896) 

 observes that the half-ripe fruits are pounded in a mortar and then kept 

 six or seven days in water until they have decomposed. A gummy solution re- 

 sults, which is poured off and the sediment thrown away. The brownish liquid 

 thus obtained is used in dyeing and tanning. It is made into a good black by 

 being combined with myrobalans (Terminniin ciiebnia) and proto-sulphate of 

 iron (hira-kash). The infusion is largely employed for tanning fishing nets and 

 lines, and it makes them more durable. 



D. Kakl, Linn. A small tree met with in the Khasia hills and perhaps also 

 in Upper Burma. It is cultivated here and there over the moister tracts of 

 India as a fruit tree, but is only suited to very large gardens. It is the CHINESE 

 DATE PLUM or PERSIMMON, and in Burma appears to be known as tay, teh. 

 The fruit ripens during August and is about the size of a large apple with 

 twin almond-like stones. The rind is of a rich, ruddy colour. It has a rather 

 disagreeable odour, and in flavour is suggestive of an overripe apple. A fine 

 preserve is said to be made from it by the Chinese. [Cf. Boxb., Fl. Ind., ii., 528 ; 

 Firminger, Man. Gard. Ind. (ed. Cameron), 1904, 221-2.] 



D. Kurzii, Hiem. One of the most important trees of the Andamans, termed 

 in English MABBLEWOOD ; in Burma teakah, thitkya, and in the Andamans 

 pecha-da. Gamble remarks that this wood would be of great value in the 



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