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Family: Meliaceae (mahogany)
Other Names: Acajou, umbaua, grand bassam.
Distribution: Tropical West, Central, And East Africa.
The Tree: A large tree up to 190 ft (58m) high and 20 ft (6.1m) in girth, with an average exploitable girth of 11-12 ft (3.4-3.7m). It is heavily buttressed and has a long clear bole.
The Timber: The wood is medium hard and of medium weight and ranges between 32 lb/ft3 - 45 lb/ft3 (513-721 kg/m3) averaging 42 lb/ft3 (673 kg/m3) when green. It is pink when freshly cut, darkening to a reddish-brown, with pale goldern-brown zones, on exposure. The sapwood is yellowish-brown in color and is up to 2 in. (51mm) in width and it is not always distinctly demarcated from the heartwood. The grain is sometimes straight, but generally interlocked, giving a characteristic stripe figure in quarter sawn stock. The texture is medium to coarse, but even. It has no distinct taste or odor. The planed surface is lustrous. Growth rings fairly distinct to the naked eye due to the presence of terminal parenchyma.
Seasoning: Dries rapidly with little degrade. Small movement in service.
Durability: Durable; resistant to fungal and insect attack. Sapwood moderately permeable to preservative treatments and heartwood extremely resistant.
Workability: The timber works fairly easily with both hand and machine tools. A reduction in the cutting angle to 15 degrees is advisable to avoid picking up in machine planing, especially when the timber has interlocked grain. Nails well, slightly resistant to screws. Glues well. Takes a high polish.
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