Ebenopsis ebano / Pithecellobium flexicaule of the family Fabaceae (other synonyms: Acacia flexicaulis, 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 --- these 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:
plank --- both sides and end grain
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
end grain closeup (see the enlargements) of Texas ebony end grain --- pic contributed by James Lopez
