MAHOGANY 207 



a nearly continuous ring of pores in the spring- wood and few pores 

 in the outer part of the annual ring. 



The Mahoganies of the Central American mainland, which form 

 the bulk of the rapidly shrinking American supply, and are known 

 as Honduras, Tabasco, Bay-wood, Colombian, Panama, Mexican, 

 or Bermuda, are probably the wood of species of Oedrila, a genus 

 closely allied to SwieUnia. They are almost always considerably^ 

 lighter in weight than the old Spanish or Cuban Mahogany, weigh- 

 ing 35 lbs. or less per cubic foot as against from 35 to 67 lbs., and 

 are also decidedly softer. Anatomically they are marked by the 

 general absence of a continuous pore-ring in the spring-wood and 

 by the presence of almost as many scattered pores in the outer as 

 in the inner part of each annual ring. 



Honduras Mahogany, shipped from Belize, Trujillo, and Tabasco 

 (the largest logs, which frequently have heart-shakes, coming from 

 the latter port), reaches 50 ft. at its first branch and 3 ft. in diam., 

 and yields logs 25 — 40 ft. long and 12 — 24 in. square, or even larger. 

 It is seldom figured, becomes somewhat brittle on drying, and is 

 apt to develop deep star-shakes. S.G. 644 — 684. W 35. eM-11. 

 p' -99. c 2,998. c' -396. v'' -806. Stress required to indent it 

 ■^-^ in. transversely to its fibres 1,300 lbs. It is known commercially 

 as '* Baywood," and, besides being used as an Oak-substitute in 

 ship-building, is largely used in cabin fittings and by cabinet- 

 makers, turners, and carpenters. Some Mahogany sold as Honduras 

 is really Guatemalan. Mexican Mahogany reaches the largest 

 dimensions, sometimes squaring 48 in., but generally coming to 

 market in logs 18-30 ft. long and 15-36 in. square. It is generaUy 

 somewhat soft and spongy at the centre, often affected by star- 

 shake, and plain in figure. S.G. 612 — 790. e' 1-9. p^ -97. c 3,427. 

 c' -451. v' -772. We impoi:t some 75,000 loads of Mahogany 

 annually, the value of which is about £730,000. 



Mahogany, African, is the trade-name for several allied woods 

 belonging to the Order Melidcece, and not distantly related to the 

 Swietenia of the West Indies, and the genus Cedrela, which is 

 represented in the tropics of both hemispheres by valuable timber- 

 yielding species. The species most frequently represented on the 

 Liverpool market are Khdya senegaUnsis A. Juss., K. grandifolia 

 Stapf, K, Purchii Stapf, TricMUa Pricuridna A. Juss., Entandro- 

 fhrdgma CandoUei Harms, E. OandoUedna De Will. & T. Dur, 

 and B, angoUnse C. DC. ; but it is probable that many other 

 species are also sent to market as Mahogany, which accounts for 

 the great variation in the nature of the wood so named. So-called 

 African Mahogany is shipped from settlements as far apart as 

 Senegal and Angola ; but though some reaches Liverpool, the 

 chief European port of import from French territory, such as Grand 

 Bassam and Assinee, on the Ivory Coast, the bulk of the supply 



