Diospyros ebenum Diospyros ebenum Diospyros ebenum, or Ceylon ebony, is a species of tree in the genus Diospyros and the family Ebenaceae. The tree produces valuable black wood. This middle-high evergreen tree grows very slowly up to tall. The leaves are entire-like and have a prolonged oval form, about long and wide. The fruit is not very big, approximately in diameter. It resembles small persimmon fruit. Sap wood is light yellowish gray. The wood core is glossy-black seldom with occasional light fibers. This wood with metallic gloss also has fine and smooth texture. The wood grains can be straight, a bit chaotically
Diospyros ebenum organized and wavy. Dry wood density is 1190 kg/m3. The tree is occurring in southern India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. The variety of the wood found in North Sulawesi, Indonesia is "Diospyros ebenum Koenig". Known as කළුවර ගස් ("Kaluwara Gas") by Sinhalese people due to hard black wood of the tree. 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