• Family : EBENACEAE
  (Ebony Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : BISTENDU FAMILY (बिसतॆंदु फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : EBENACEAE
• Synonym(s) : Diospyros assimilis Beddome
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Diospyros ebenum J.Konig ex Retz.
• Common name : Ebony, Ceylon Ebony, Malabar Ebony, East India Ebony, Black Sapote, Persimmon Ebony
• Vernacular name : Kari mara, Beli mara (Kannada); Karunkaali, Solaikarimaram, Thumaraam (Tamil); Nallauti, Tuki, Tallavalludu (Telugu); Kendu (Oria); Ebans, Ebnus (Hindi); Ebony, Karingali, Karinthali, Karu, Mushtambi, Vayari, Nanchimaram (Malayalam)
• Habit : Tree
• Habitat : Evergreen & deciduous forests
• Comments / notes : Rare in dry evergreen forests at 700 – 900m. It prefers well-drained rocky soil and grows well on sandy loam.
• Flower, Fruit : February-August
• Collector(s) Name : Arun Singh R & Raja K. Swamy
• Collection Date : 12/09/2014
• Collection Nos : HJCB-E-192
• Collection Locality : Javadu Hills, Tiruvannamaliah district (TN)
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Chittoor district, Srikakulam district, Kadapa district, Vishakapatnam district, Krishna district, Guntur district, East Godavari district, West Godavari district
  • Karnataka : Dakshina Kannada district, Shivamogga district, Udupi district, Uttara Kannada district
  • Kerala : Idukki district, Kollam district, Kasaragod district, Kannur district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district
  • Maharashtra : Pune district
  • Tamil Nadu : Salem district, Dharmapuri district, Tiruchirapalli district, Tiruvannamalai district
• Native : India, Sri Lanka
• Endemism : Peninsular India
• World Distribution : India, Sri Lanka
• Conservation Status : Data Deficient (DD)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. ; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Cecil J. Saldanha, S. R. Ramesh (1984). Flora of Karnataka State vol. 1. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co, New Delhi; Gowda, 2004 – Flora of Sringeri; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 – Flora of Udupi district; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Diospyros ebenum. Downloaded on 3 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

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Field Image(s)