Ebenaceae

 ( Ericales Families ) 

The Ebenaceae are a family of belonging to order Ericales. The family includes ebony and persimmon among about 768 species of trees and shrubs. It is distributed across the tropics and warmer temperate regions of the world. It is most diverse in the of Malesia, India, Thailand,Forest Herbarium e-Flora of Thailand tropical Africa and tropical America.

Many species are valued for their wood, particularly ebony, for fruit, and as .

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Biology The fruits contain , a plant defense against herbivory, so they are often avoided by animals when unripe. The ripe fruits of many species are a food source for diverse animal taxa. The foliage is consumed by insects.

The plants may have a strong scent. Some species have aromatic wood. They are important and conspicuous trees in many of their native , such as lowland dry forests of the former Maui Nui in Hawaii, Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests, Khathiar–Gir dry deciduous forests, Louisiade Archipelago rain forests, Madagascar lowland forests, Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests, New Guinea mangroves, and South Western Ghats montane rain forests.

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.

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Description The family includes and . The leaves are usually alternately arranged, but some species have opposite or whorled leaves. The inflorescence is usually a cyme of flowers, sometimes a raceme or a panicle, and some plants produce solitary flowers. Most species are dioecy. The flower has 3 to 8 petals, which are joined at the bases. There are usually several single or paired , which are often attached to the inner wall of the corolla. Female flowers have up to 8 gynoecium. The sepal is persistent. The fruits are berry-like or capsular. Like the wood of some species, the roots and bark may be black in color.Duangjai, S., et al. (2006). Generic delimitation and relationships in Ebenaceae sensu lato: evidence from six plastid DNA regions. American Journal of Botany 93(12), 1808-27.

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Etymology

The family name Ebenaceae is based on the genus name Ebenus, published by Otto Kuntze in 1891. It is a later homonym of Ebenus L., a genus already named in the family Fabaceae, and is thus nomen illegitimum. The plant that Kuntze had named Ebenus was accordingly reassigned to the genus Maba, which in turn has since been included in the genus Diospyros.

Because the name Ebenaceae had become well known, having been used in major botanical references such as Bentham and Hooker's Genera Plantarum, Adolf Engler and Prantl's Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien, and Hutchinson's Families of Flowering Plants, it was Conserved name and is therefore legitimate.

(2026). 9783906166483, A.R.G. Gantner Verlag KG. . ISBN 9783906166483

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Genera

During the last century, seven genera have been included in the family at one time or another. One phylogenetic analysis reduced the family to four genera:

Diospyros	L.	Sp. Pl. 2: 1057–1058	1753
Euclea	L.	Syst. Veg. (ed. 13) 747	1774
Lissocarpa Lissocarpa. The Plant List. Accessed 13 August 2012.	Benth.	Gen. Pl. 2(2): 667, 671	1876
Royena	L.	Sp. Pl. 1: 397	1753

Categories: Ericales Families

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