frameless, upright=1.2 upright=0.9, Bookmatched veneer Calamander or coromandel is a valuable hardwood obtained from the species '' Diospyros quaesita'', native to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and Sri Lanka. It is also known as or variegated ebony and is closely related to genuine

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...

, but is obtained from different species in the same genus. It is variegated with stripes of deep black and hazel-brown, and is very heavy and hard relative to most other woods. The name "calamander" comes from coromandel, referring to the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...

in India from where it was first exported. It is used in carpentry,

luthiery A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers of ...

, and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

. Although objects made of calamander are still extant, the trees from which the wood was obtained were logged to near-extinction, and those remaining remain a protected vulnerable species. Calamander furniture is so expensive and prized that recycling it is an unlikely proposition. A substitute, Macassar ebony, has similar characteristics and to the untrained eye is nearly identical, though the colour lacks the depth seen in genuine calamander.

References

{{reflist *''

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758–1843), as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's ...

'', 1913. Wood Diospyros