Ceylon Ebony Tree | kaluwara Tree (Diospyros ebenum)

Ceylon Ebony Tree (Kaluwara Tree)
Sri Lanka is a country that has inherited many valuable plants since ancient times. Ebony, also known as Kaluwara in Sinhala, is a commonly used tree for furniture. 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. The wood of the tree is called the Kaluwara tree by the Sinhalese people because of its dark black color. Diospyros ebenum, or Ceylon ebony කළුවර, is a species of tree in the genus Diospyros and the family Ebenaceae. The tree produces valuable black wood. In Sri Lanka, harvesting and selling ebony wood is illegal. 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 and termites resistant. The tree's wood density is extremely high, which makes it impossible for wood to float. It is also hard to treat both manually and mechanically. The wood itself is short grain, subject to cracking. The finest furniture of the 16th and 19th centuries was made of Ceylon ebony. Wooden and door window handles were best suited for making tablecloths while cutting needles and hooks or razor handles were used for making. Today it is used perfectly in the manufacture of handmade works of art and musical instruments, such as turnery, knife shafts, brush holders, and chopsticks. It is also good for a beautiful wooden cover. Wood is extremely valuable and is sold in kilograms.
This tall evergreen tree grows very slowly up to 20-25 m (66-82 ft). The leaves are completely identical and elongate in shape. It is about 6-15 cm long and 3-5 cm wide. The fruit is about 2 inches (0.79 inches) in diameter. It resembles a small persimmon fruit. The sapwood is light yellowish gray. The wood core is occasionally light fibrous glossy-black. This wood with metallic gloss also has a fine and smooth texture. The density of dry wood is 1190 kg / m3.
Heartwood is a jet black, sometimes with grey or dark brown streaks. Pale yellow sapwood is clearly demarcated from heartwood. Ironically, the very best quality ebony looks like black plastic. Polished wood feels cold like metal. Heat emission is so high that it causes melting of metal vessels in which the wood is burnt. In the 16th-19th centuries the best furniture was made of Ceylon ebony. The wood was preferred for making door and window handles, table-ware shanks, while the cutting was used for knitting needles and hooks or razor handles making. Today the wood is perfectly used in handmade artwork and for producing some parts of musical instruments (for example, grand piano keys, necks, fingerboards for fretted and bowed instruments, pegs, tailpieces, string holders and tripods for instruments), turnery (including chess pieces), knife hafts, brush holders and chopsticks. Also it is good for decorative wooden inlay.
Related Species
Black and White Ebony (Diospyros spp.)
Gaboon Ebony (Diospyros crassiflora)
Macassar Ebony (Diospyros celebica)
Malaysian Blackwood (Diospyros ebonasea)
Mun Ebony (Diospyros mun)
Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)
A popular tree, the ebony tree, referred to as "Ceylon ebony" for the trees found in Sri Lanka, is also found in south India and Indonesia. The scientific name of the plant is Diospyros ebenum and it belongs to the family Ebenaceae. Laws in both Sri Lanka and India prohibit the international trade of this particular wood. Known also as "kaluwara" in Sinhalese, this plant is used in the timber industry and it was a popular type of wood in areas where carpentry is practiced on a large-scale basis.
The ebony tree reaches 100 feet but a majority of the ebony trees of Sri Lanka are much shorter than this figure. As its name suggests, its wood is black or grey-black in colour. The fruit of this species of plant is 2 cm in diameter and it is regarded as a type of berry. Parts of the tree is also used for medicine in certain areas of Asia. According to BIOTIK, a project that provides information on biodiversity and taxonomy, Ceylon ebony is a type of canopy tree that grows in dry evergreen forests. These trees can be easily seen at Udawalawe National Park, especially along the river bank. The wood is extremely valuable, so it is sold in kilograms. Ceylon ebony wood high demand caused the threat of this species extinction. In 1994 the World Conservation Union, currently known as IUCN, included Ceylon ebony tree into the Red Book. However, as of 1998, IUCN has insufficient data about this species. Both India and Sri Lanka have law prohibiting international trade of the wood.
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