168 



WOOD AND FOREST. 



56 



MAHOGANY. 

 Swietenia mahagoni Jacquin. 



Swietenia, in honor of Dr. Gerard Van Swieten of Austria; mahagoni, a 

 South American word. 



Habitat. 



Leaf. 



Habitat: (See map) ; 

 only on Florida Keys in 

 the United States. 



Characteristics of the 

 Tree: Height, 40'-50'; 

 diameter, 2' or more, for- 

 eign trees larger; immense 

 buttresses at base of trunk ; 

 bark, thick, dark red- 

 brown, having surface of 

 broad, thick scales; leaves, 

 4"-6" long, compound, 4 

 pairs of leaflets; fruit, 

 4"-5" long, containing 

 seeds. 



Appearance of Wood: 



Color, red-brown, sap- 

 wood, thin, yellow dif- 

 fuse-porous; rings, incon- 

 spicuous ; grain, crooked ; 

 rays, fine and scattered, 

 but plain. 



Physical Qualities : 

 Heavy (14th in this list), 

 45 Ibs. per cu. ft. ; sp. gr., 

 0.7282; very strong (20th 

 in this list) ; elastic (24th 

 in this list) ; very hard 

 (1st in this list) ; shrink- 



