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Botanical Family · Ericales

Ebenaceae

Ebony/Persimmon family

22 speciesOrder Ericales8+ well-known plants

Trees with hard dark wood (ebony). Flowers unisexual with persistent calyx. Fruit is a berry (persimmon). Includes ebony and persimmon.

Browse all 22 species ↓
Representative EBENACEAE specimen
Representative specimen · Ebenaceae
Key pattern

Simple, leathery alternate leaves on trees famed for hard, dark heartwood; flowers are unisexual with a thick, persistent calyx that stays attached and enlarges beneath the ripening berry, forming the papery cap seen under a persimmon.

Source of true ebony timber — some of the densest, darkest wood known — alongside the sweet, astringent-until-ripe persimmon fruit.

Identify the species

Which Ebenaceae species is this?

Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Ebenaceae species.

Click a node to trace its path · pinch or scroll to zoom · drag to pan
Leaf ShapeWhat is the overall shape of the leaf blade?
Cordate (heart-shaped)
Elliptic
Elliptic (widest at middle)
Lanceolate
Linear (long and narrow, parallel sides)
Obovate
Obovate (egg-shaped, broad at tip)
Leaf SurfaceWhat does the leaf surface feel or look like?
Glabrous (smooth, hairless)
Pubescent
Leaf SurfaceWhat does the leaf surface feel or look like?
Glabrous
Glabrous (smooth, hairless)
Pubescent (softly hairy)
Leaf SurfaceWhat does the leaf surface feel or look like?
Glabrous
Glabrous (smooth, hairless)
Leaf SurfaceWhat does the leaf surface feel or look like?
Glabrous (smooth, hairless)
Tomentose (woolly, matted hairs)

How to recognise the Ebenaceae family

  • 01

    Leaf arrangement: alternate

  • 02

    Leaf type: simple

  • 03

    Growth forms: tree/shrub

  • 04

    Inflorescence: cymose

  • 05

    Fruit: berry

Typical leaf characters

  • ArrangementVariable
  • TypeVariable
  • MarginVariable
  • VenationVariable

Characters typical of the family — individual species can vary.

Typical flower & fruit

  • Flower symmetryVariable
  • InflorescencePanicle
  • FruitBerry

Typical of the family — flowering plants only; species can vary.

Notable members

Narrow-Leaved EbonyDiospyros angustifoliaSmall-Leaved EbonyDiospyros buxifoliaQuarrelsome TreeDiospyros candolleanaGreen Ebony PersimmonDiospyros chloroxylonMountain Persimmon, Indian EbonyDiospyros cordifoliaMabola Ebony, Comogen Ebony, Philippine Persimmon, Mabola Tree, Mabola-Date-Plum, Velvet Apple, Velvet PersimmonDiospyros discolorEbony, Ceylon Ebony, Malabar Ebony, East India Ebony, Black Sapote, Persimmon EbonyDiospyros ebenumJapanese PersimmonDiospyros kaki

All 22 species in EBENACEAE

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