Many species are valued for their wood, particularly ebony, for fruit, and as ornamental plants.
Biology
The fruits contain tannins, 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 family includes trees and shrubs. 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 dioecious. The flower has 3 to 8 petals, which are joined at the bases. There are usually several single or paired stamens, which are often attached to the inner wall of the corolla. Female flowers have up to 8 stigmas.[3] The calyx is persistent.[7] The fruits are berry-like or capsular.[3] Like the wood of some species, the roots and bark may be black in color.[7]
Etymology
The family name Ebenaceae is based on the genus name Ebenus, published by Otto Kuntze in 1891.[8] 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, Engler and Prantl'sNatürlichen Pflanzenfamilien, and Hutchinson'sFamilies of Flowering Plants, it was conserved[9] and is therefore legitimate.[10]
Genera
During the last century, seven genera have been included in the family at one time or another.[3] One phylogenetic analysis reduced the family to four genera:[7]
