Ebenopsis ebano / Pithecellobium flexicaule of the family Fabaceae (syn. Leguminosae) the legume, pea, or bean family. Other synonyms are Acacia flexicaulis and Ebenopsis flexicaulis.
NOTE: Although there is a consensus that Ebenopsis ebano / Pithecellobium flexicaule is what is generally meant by the common name Texas ebony, there are a couple of totally unrelated woods that are also reported, but only rarely, as Texas ebony.
This is a very hard wood that is native to Texas. Reports of the maximum tree size of Ebenopsis ebano vary from 20 feet to 80 feet but by all accounts, the wood is only available in small sizes.
my samples: NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K) colors will vary under other lighting conditions
both sides of a sample plank of Texas ebony / Ebenopsis ebano --- HUGE enlargements are present.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of Texas ebony / Ebenopsis ebano --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above. NOTE: this is seriously overexposed so that the pores can be seen.
both sides of a sample plank of texas ebony / Ebenopsis ebano --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This is an unusually bland sample of Texas ebony.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of Texas ebony / Pithecellobium flexicaule --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Although this sample is much lighter than other Texas ebony I've seen, it's consistent with some of the web pics below, and Mark is reliable about identifying woods, and the end grain update shows consistency with the look of Texas ebony. The face grain looks more like desert ironwood, but the end grain ruled that out right away. Pithecellobium flexicaule is a synonym for Ebenopsis ebano.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of texas ebony / Pithecellobium flexicaule --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of texas ebony / Pithecellobium flexicaule --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of Texas ebony / Pithecellobium flexicaule --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The difference in color between the two sides is because the first side is freshly sanded and the second side still shows an age patina.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
plank --- both sides and end grain. These and the 2 pieces below are all from a couple of pieces sent to me by a correspondent, and the actual wood is in all cases darker than what is shown in these pics. I lightened them up so that the grain shows more clearly:
two small turning sticks shown from both sides and the end grain of both ends --- the color in the middle pic is a shade too red
NOTE: the following pics are from two small sample pieces provided by Kathy Marshall, whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. There is also a hollow form by her at the bottom of the page
both pieces raw; referred to below as the rectangular piece and the flat piece
both pieces after I sanded them down (the two pieces on the left started out as the rectangular piece but split in because of the deep bandsaw cut that you can see in the raw pic above ... the pics below are all of the larger chunk.
the flat piece after I sanded it
end grain closeups of the flat piece. Note that the first pic has a purple tint that is not in the wood.
both ends of the rectangular piece
the sapwood face and a closeup of the sapwood side
the heartwood side
end grain closeups of the rectangular piece
both sides of a Texas ebony sample contributed by James Lopez whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
face grain closeup and side grain closeup of the piece directly above
a small piece sent to me for identification and mis-identified by me (and "confirmed" by the owner based on another piece) as desert ironwood. Now that I am doing the end grain updates, I see that this is unquestionably NOT desert ironwood but is almost certainly Texas ebony. The finish on this piece is absolutely glass-like --- the owner sanded it down with a very fine grit.
end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above
both sides of a little chunk of Texas ebony / Ebenopsis ebano --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was sent to me for ID and both the face grain and end grain clearly say it is Texas ebony.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
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