Ebony (wood)

A hard, heavy, durable heartwood wood yielded by various trees of the genus Diospyros in tropical Asia and Africa, valued for its dense, smooth-grain from the earliest times; was imported to Egypt from Nubia and the Sudan. It is extremely durable, resistant to rotting, fungi and powder post beetles, but difficult to work and carve. It has been used for decorative items, inlay work, black piano keys, musical instruments, and tool handles. Several other dark, heavy woods from unrelated species are also called ebony because of their color, including cocuswood, coffeewood, blue ebony, and African blackwood.