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INFORMATION LEAFLET 
FOREIGN WOODS 
Forest Products Laboratory, - Forest Service 
U. S. Department of Agriculture ** 
1951 
AVODIRE 
Turraeanthus africana (Welw. ) Fellegrin 
(= Guarea africana Weir, r-inreria africana \. Chev. ) 
Familv: I.ieliaceae 
By 
G\R0L M. MILLER, Scientific Aid 
Division of Silvicultural Relations 
Avodire ( Turraeanthus africana (Welw. ) Pellegrin) is a species from tropical 
West Africa that has recently become of considerable commercial importance on 
European and American hardwood markets. The species was first described in 
18?8 by Dr. Welwitch as Guarea africana ( C. DC.) from Angola, Test Africa. 
In 1909, A. Chevalier described and named it as ging^ria africana A. Chev., 
but 2 years later Fellegrin referred the species to the genus Turraeanthus , 
and the recognized scientific name is now Turraeanthus africana (V'clv.,) Fell. 
It is a member of the Meliaceae family (20, 22, 25),- which includes some of 
the best known cabinet woods, such as ;uahogany ( Uvictenia spp.), African 
mahogany (Khaya spp.), Spanish cedar, and andiroba (6). 
Avodire is manufactured in the same manner as African mahogany, and when 
stained and finished, the wood is difficult to distinguish from African 
mahogany, although the trees do not look alike externally (22). It has been 
offered for sale as white mahogany, African mahogany, African satin^ood, and 
African furniture wood (lit). The principal handicaps to its extensive use 
are its comparatively small size and limited occurrence, the poor shape of 
the logs, and the tendency of freshly cut timber to stain if not carefully 
handled (2£ ). Although the wood has come on the market only comparatively 
recently, its popular blond color, low price, beautiful figure, and easy- 
working qualities have created a considerable demand (6). 
"Tlaintained at Madison, Wis., in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin. 
2 
Underlined numbers in parentheses refer to the list of numbered references at 
the end of the article. 
Rept. No. R1905 -1- Agriculture-Madison 
