| Coromandel Ebony | |
|---|---|
| Bark of the Coromandel Ebony. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ebenaceae |
| Genus: | Diospyros |
| Species: | D. melanoxylon |
| Binomial name | |
| Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb.[1] |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Diospyros tupru Buch.-Ham. |
|
Coromandel Ebony or East Indian Ebony (Diospyros melanoxylon) is a species of flowering tree in the family Ebenaceae that is native to India and Sri Lanka.
Its common name is derived from the coast of southeastern India, Coromandel; locally it is known as temburini or by its Hindi name tendu. In Orissa and Jharkhand it known as kendu. It is used in an Indian cigarette product known as a beedi, where it wraps the tobacco to be smoked. The bark of the East Indian ebony is hard and dry, and burns producing sparks and sounds.
The leaf of the tree contains valuable flavones.[2] The pentacyclic triterpines found in leaves possess antimicrobial properties,[3] while the bark shows antihyperglycemic activity.[4] The bark of four diospyrose species found in India also found significant antiplasmocidal effects against P. falciparum.[5]