Ebony (plant)

Ebony (plant), common name for a family of flowering plants and for trees of its representative genus. Because of its wood and fruits, the ebony family, with close to 500 species, is probably the best-known and most important member of its order. Several tropical species in the representative order are exploited for their hard, dense wood. Ebony wood varies in color from species to species but has the common characteristics of being derived from the heartwood of the trees and of being capable of taking a beautiful polish. Other Temperate Zone species of the same genus produce persimmons. These include the common persimmon, native to the United States, and the kaki, originally from China but now widely grown elsewhere.

The order to which the ebony family belongs comprises 5 families and about 2000 species. Leaves are simple and entire. Flowers are bisexual with many stamens and superior ovaries (see Flower). Many members of the order, primarily in the Tropics, produce latex; other characteristics vary considerably. Useful products include wood, latex derivatives, and edible fruits.

The snowbell family contains 12 genera and about 180 species. In tropical areas, trees of this family are tapped to extract saplike materials containing benzoin, used in medicine and incense, and storax, useful as an antiseptic. Snowbell and silverbell are useful ornamentals in temperate areas.

The final family of note is the sapote family with about 70 genera and about 800 species. This group occurs mainly in the moist lowlands of the Tropics. Several genera, little known elsewhere, produce delicious fruits with such names as gambeya, sapote, marmalade plum, and star apple. Some species produce balata, a milky latex that was useful in such items as golf balls and insulators before the discovery of natural rubber (see Spurge). The elastic ingredient in chewing gum, chicle, is derived from the latex of sapodilla, although synthetic substitutes are now widely employed.

Scientific classification: Ebony is the common name for the family Ebenaceae of the order Ebenales. The common persimmon is classified as Diospyros virginiana and the kaki as Diospyros kaki. Snowbells belong to the family Styracaceae. The sapodilla belongs to the family Sapotaceae and is classified as Manilkara zapota.