Diospyros Melanoxylon, Tendu - 0.5 kg Seeds

Tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon), the Coromandel ebony or East Indian ebony, is a slow-growing deciduous tree with a straight trunk, dark scaly bark and leathery oblong leaves that are coppery when young. It bears small greenish flowers followed by yellow edible berries.

The tree is best known for its leaves, which are the principal wrapper for bidis and form one of India's most important minor forest produce; its hard, dark, fine-grained heartwood is an ebony substitute used for furniture and turnery, and the sweet fruit is eaten locally. In India it is abundant in the dry deciduous forests of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra and the central and peninsular tracts.

• Family: Ebenaceae
• Native region: Central and peninsular India
• Mature height: 15–25 m
• Growth rate: Slow

Soak the cleaned seeds in water for 24–48 hours before sowing. Sow about 2 cm deep in nursery beds or polybags of well-drained sandy soil at the onset of the rains; germination is slow, typically 21–30 days. The seedlings develop a long taproot, so raise them in deep containers and transplant carefully once they are well established.