ebenaceæ

pl. [Lat. ebenus; Gr. ebenos = the ebony-tree ( Diospyros ebenum ), ebony, and Lat. fem. pl. adj. suff. -aceœ.] Bot.: Ebenads. An order of plants, alliance Gentian a les. It consists of trees or shrubs without milk and with heavy wood. The leaves, which are entire and coriaceous, are alternate; stipules; inflorescence axillary; flowers with the sexes separate or occasionally hermaphrodite; calyx in three to seven divisions; persistent corolla, monopetalous, hypogynous, deciduous, its limb with three to seven divisions; stamens twice or sometimes four times as many, rarely the same number as the seg ments of the corolla; stigma simple, se ile, radiat ing ovary se ile, with several cells, each having one or two pendulous ovules; fruit round, fleshy, sometimes by abortion few seeded. The species come from India and the other parts of the tropics; a few are found as far north as Switzerland. In 1845 Lindley enumerated nine genera, and estimated the known species at 160. They are known by the hardne of their timber, called ebony and ironwood (q. v.). The unripe fruit is very sour. There is no genus Ebenum, the typical genus of the order is Diospyros (q. v.).