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Cross-section of an unprocessed piece of ebony wood. Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus Diospyros, which also includes the persimmon tree. A few Diospyros species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is finely textured and has a mirror finish when polished, making ...
Diospyros crassiflora, commonly known as Gaboon ebony, African ebony, Cameroon ebony, Nigeria ebony, [3] West African ebony, [4] and Benin ebony [5] is a species of lowland-rainforest tree in the family Ebenaceae that is endemic to Western Africa.
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. Sawn block of Diospyros ebenum. In Sri Lanka, it is illegal to harvest and sell ebony wood.
The latter are divided into two groups in trade: the pure black ebony (notably from D. ebenum, but also several other species), and the striped ebony or calamander wood (from D. celebica, D. mun and others).
The trees are being harvested at an unsustainable rate, partly because of illegal smuggling of the wood into Kenya, but also because the tree takes upwards of 60 years to mature. African blackwood is often cited as one of the most expensive woods in the world, along with sandalwood, pink ivory, agarwood and ebony. [5] [6]
Ebony is a dense black wood taken from several species in the genus Diospyros, including Diospyros ebenum (Ceylon ebony, Indian ebony), Diospyros crassiflora (West African ebony, Benin ebony), and Diospyros celebica (Makassar ebony). Diospyros tesselaria (Mauritius ebony) was heavily exploited by the Dutch in the 17th century.
But the rise of technology has led to an evolved "black market" -- and rather than exotic animals and tangible exports, data like credit card information and even streaming accounts are up for grabs.
Variegated ebony is a group of valuable hardwood varieties, generally obtained from several species in the genus Diospyros, related to genuine ebony. The wood has been used for furniture but also in carpentry , luthiery , and sculpture .