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Tendu

Diospyros melanoxylon

Tendu
Photo: S. K. Gawali, Public domain

Tendu is a tree native to India and Sri Lanka, grown for its leaves (used to wrap beedi cigarettes) and its edible fruit. Young trees tolerate shade, but mature trees need full sun.

Family
Ebenaceae (Eben family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun, Shade
Water
Water regularly while young and in dry spells; mature trees tolerate seasonal drought.
Soil
Well-drained soil, slightly acidic (pH 5.5 to 7).
Temperature
Warm tropical conditions; protect from frost.
How easy
Moderate
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Native range
India, Sri Lanka
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

Diospyros melanoxylon, the Coromandel ebony or East Indian ebony, is a species of flowering tree in the family Ebenaceae native to India and Sri Lanka; it has a hard, dry bark. Its common name derives from Coromandel, the coast of southeastern India. Locally it is known as temburini or by its Hindi name tendu. In Odisha, Jharkhand, and Assam, it is known as kendu. In Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana it is known as tuniki. The leaves can be wrapped around tobacco to create the Indian beedi, which has outsold conventional cigarettes in India.

Other Diospyros plants

Mabolo · Diospyros buxifolia · Diospyros diepenhorstii · Ebony · Diospyros egrettarum · Diospyros ferrea · Australian Ebony · Japanese persimmon · Date-plum · Indian Persimmon · Black sapote · Diamond Leaf Persimmon

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Diospyros melanoxylon by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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