Mahogany

Description

Tropical trees from the Miliaceae family (American genus Swietenia and African genus Khaya). Mahogany has a fine, straight grain that takes a high polish. It is dimensionally stable and does not shrink, warp, or swell. The durable, dark reddish-brown wood was imported to Europe in the 18th century where it became popular for furniture, paneling and veneer. Mahogany was used by Chippendale, Hepplewhite, and the Adam brothers for high quality furniture. Ammonia brings out a rich, red color in mahogany wood. Mahogany is frequently attacked by pinhole borer beetles.

Many woods of similar colors have also been called mahoganies, but usually do not have rich color or fine cutting characteristics of the true mahogany wood.

Related trees from the Miliaceae family are the Asian Ailanthus tree, the southeast Asian lauan tree and the Himalayan chinaberry tree.

Synonyms and Related Terms

West Indies Mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni) American mahogany or Honduras mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla); African mahogany (any Khaya species); caoba (Esp.); acajou (Fr.); Mahagoniholz (Deut); mogano (It.); acaju, mogno americano (Port.); mahogny (Sven.); acajou; jequitiba; madeira wood

Other Properties

Medium tree growing to 20 m with short trunk and spreding crown. Leaves=Compound with 6-12 leaflets (5-15 cm long)

Density	35-48 ppcf

Hazards and Safety

Skin contact may cause allergic reactions.

Additional Images

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  Mahogany tree (Swietenia mahogoni)

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  Mahogany

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  San Domingo mahogany (Swietenia mahogoni)

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  Mahogany (Swietenia mahogoni)

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  Mahogany (Swietenia mahogoni)

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  Mahogany (Swietenia mahogoni)

Authority

• Website address 1, Website address 1 Comment: Virginia Tech Dendrology website at www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/main.htm (accessed Oct. 8, 2005)

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahogany (Accessed Oct. 8, 2005)

• F. H. Titmuss, F. H. Titmuss, Commercial Timbers of the World, The Technical Press Ltd., London, 1965

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996

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• Ralph Mayer, Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• Hermann Kuhn, Hermann Kuhn, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art and Antiquities, Butterworths, London, 1986

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "mahogany" [Accessed October 24, 2001].

• G.S.Brady, G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 488

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Random House, Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Tom Rowland, Noel Riley, Tom Rowland, Noel Riley, A-Z Guide to Cleaning, Conserving and Repairing Antiques, Constable and Co., Ltd., London, 1981

• Michael McCann, Michael McCann, Artist Beware, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York City, 1979

• George Savage, George Savage, Art and Antique Restorer's Handbook, Rockliff Publishing Corp, London, 1954