Common Name: Benin Ebony

General Information

Benin ebony is a tree growing up to 25 metres tall. The cylindrical or fluted bole can be free of branches for up to 15 metres and up to 120cm in diameter[, ]. The bole is without buttresses[].
The heart-wood of this tree is the true ebony of commerce and there has long been an export trade from Benin, E Cameroun and Gabon, which in the two last-named countries has now probably reached a state of over-exploitation[]. This is one of 33 species named as being a suitable Hongmu (red wood) timber, used for producing high quality Chinese furniture following traditions from the Ming and Quing dynasty, which makes it a particularly valuable wood[].
Virtually all large trees of this species have been felled for the ebony wood, except perhaps in the most remote parts of its range. The plant is classified as 'Endangered' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)[].

Known Hazards

The sawdust may cause allergic contact dermatitis in wood workers[].

Botanical References

Range

Western tropical Africa - Nigeria to the Central Africa Republic, south to Gabon and DR Congo.

Habitat

Usually found as isolated trees in lowland semi-deciduous and evergreen rain forest at elevations up to 1,000 metres, but usually avoiding the most humid forest types[].

Properties

Conservation Status	Endangered
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	15.00 m
Growth Rate	Slow
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A slow-growing species[]. The mean diameter growth was 4.5mm per year for trees with a mean height of 14.5 metres and a mean age of 50 years. However, two trees measured over a period of 10 years in central Gabon had an average annual growth rate of only 1mm in diameter[].
In a 50-years-old plantation in Cameroon, dominant trees were on average 24 metres tall and 22cm in bole diameter, whereas the standing volume was estimated at 320 cubic metres/ha[].
In Benin the Ejagham recognise four sorts of tree:-
Nyareti is a 'female' tree yielding top quality ebony.
Num nyareti is the 'male' of this with second grade ebony.
Nyareh is 'female' with poor ebony but providing excellent fuel.
Num nyareh is its 'male' yielding neither good ebony nor good fuel[].
Not all Diospyros species produce ebony, but in some a blackening appears on immersion in water for shorter or longer duration according to the species. The water also blackens. Such immersed timber loses its blackening on re-exposure to air and drying. The true blackening of ebony is the result of necrosis in very small spots[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

A decoction of the bark is taken in draught and by enema for treating ovarian troubles[].
The powdered bark is used, combined with the red heart-wood of Pterocarpus soyauxii, to treat yaws[]. It is also applied to sores, perhaps in similar context[, ].

Leaf-sap is instilled into the eyes for purulent ophthalmia[, ].

Examination of the roots on Nigerian material has shown a strong presence of alkaloids[].

Other Uses

The heartwood is black, very hard, but appears only in older trees over a certain girth; it is clearly demarcated from the 5 - 12cm wide band of creamy to reddish yellow sapwood that produces bands of black. In Cameroon, where the tree attains a larger stature (25 metres high by 3 - 3.5 m in girth), the heartwood is said to be 95cm girth[]. The texture is fine; the grain straight or slightly interlocked. The wood is heavy, hard; very durable, being resistant to fungi, dry wood borers and termites. It seasons slowly, with a high risk of checking or distortion; once dry it is poorly stable in service. The wood is difficult to saw and work, with serious dulling effect on saws and cutting edges - stellite tipped and tungsten carbide tools are recommended; the surfaces take an excellent polish, but picking up of interlocked or curly grain may occur in planing and a reduced cutting angle is recommended; it has a tendency to split upon nailing, and pre-boring is advised; it has good slicing properties, but powerful machines are needed; the gluing properties are satisfactory. The heartwood is valued for black-wood cabinetry, furniture manufacture and high-class carpentry. It is also used for heavy flooring, interior trim, ship building, vehicle bodies, musical instruments (especially the black keys of pianos, but also guitar fingerboards), precision equipment, turnery, carvings, knife-handles and brush backs[, , ]. The sapwood, and sometimes also the heartwood, is used for poles, posts, vehicle bodies, agricultural implements, toys, novelties, sporting goods, combs, ladders, boxes, crates, crossbows, veneer and plywood[].
The wood of young trees is flexible and is used locally to make crossbows[].
The wood is used for fuel[].

Propagation

Seed - it has a very short viability and so should be sown as soon as possible[]. The flesh should be removed since this contains germination inhibitors[]. Sow the seed in a shady position in a nursery seedbed. The sowing media for ebony uses soil and fine sand at the ratio 3:1. The seed is planted horizontally or vertically with
the radicle end down, with a sowing depth of 1 - 1½ times the thickness of seed. Distance between the seeds is 3 - 5cm. Seeds are very sensitive to desiccation during germination and early growth, so must be regularly watered at this time[]. Normally the seed will germinate after one week. In one trial, fresh seed, sown one day after collection, showed 85% germination rate within 17 - 65 days[].
As a rule fresh seeds have a high percentage of fertility. The seedlings develop long taproots at an early stage, often before any appreciable elongation of the shoot takes place. The growth of the seedling is decidedly slow [].

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