Cesium hydrogen L-Malate monohydrate, CsH(C4H4O5)center dot H2O, is a new chiral open-framework semi-organic crystalline material with a second-harmonic generation efficiency one order of magnitude greater than KDR Single crystals of this new material have been grown by the conventional slow cooling technique from aqueous solution. Grown crystals display both platy and prismatic morphologies depending on the imposed supersaturation. Hardness values measured using Vickers hardness indenter show considerable anisotropy. The resistivity behavior at room temperature and above, places the crystal between an ionic conductor and a dielectric. The single-crystal SHG efficiency estimated through Maker fringes experiment gives d(eff) which is 4.24 times that of KDP. Single and multiple shot experiments performed on the grown crystals for the fundamental and second harmonic of pulsed Nd:YAG laser (1064 and 532 nm) show that it exhibits a high laser damage threshold which is a favorable property for nonlinear optical applications. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.