Dalbergia retusa

Cocobolo

Family: Leguminosae

Other Common Names: Granadillo (Mexico, Guatemala), Funera (El Salvador), Palo negro (Honduras), Nambar (Nicaragua, Costa Rica), Cocobolo, Cocobolo prieto (Panama).

Distribution: Pacific regions of Central America and extending from Panama to southwestern Mexico. Of limited occurrence, usually in the drier uplands.

The Tree: A small to medium-sized tree 45 to 60 ft high with trunk diameters of 20 to 24 in.; usually of poor form.

The Wood:

General Characteristics: Somewhat variable in color when freshly sawn but heartwood usually becoming a deep rich orange red with black striping or mottling on exposure Texture fine; grain straight to interlocked; oily; without distinctive taste, odor slightly pungent and fragrant when worked. Fine dust may cause dermatitis.

Weight: Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.80 to 0.98; air- dry density 62 to 76 pcf.

Mechanical Properties: No data available, but is denser and stronger than Brazilian rosewood (see D. nigra).

Drying and Shrinkage: Reported to have excellent drying properties, free of surface and end checking. A kiln schedule similar to T1-B1 has been suggested. Shrinkage is usually low; high stability in use. Very low moisture absorption.

Working Properties: Reported to have excellent machining characteristics; natural oils give the wood a good polish, but make it unsuitable for gluing. Fine dust may produce rash resembling ivy poisoning.

Durability: Durability is high, has very high resistance to marine borer attack.

Preservation: No data available.

Uses: Highly favored in the cutlery trade for handles, inlay work, brush backs, musical and scientific instruments, jewelry boxes, chessmen, and other specialty items.

Additional Reading: (55), (56)

M 150 282-3Logs are delivered to a sawmill in southern Nigeria. African mahogany

(mostly Khaya ivorensis) is in high demand on overseas markets. Export of logs fro

this region, as well as from most other tropical areas, is being restricted.

M 150 282-2Band mills in Ghana are designed to handle logs 5 feet and more in

diameter. Obeche or Wawa (Triplochiton scleroxylon) logs yield lumber favored for

joinery and millwork.

M 150 273-14In many areas of the tropics, fast-growing species are being introduced

future supplies of fuel wood and industrial wood. Batai (Albizia falcataria) is

a favored plantation species in the Philipines.

M 150 273-13 Shores spp. is still the major timber group harvested in Southeast

Asia. With modern chain saws, fellers no longer need scaffolding to get above larg

buttresses.

M 150 281 Felling of white lauan or almon (Shorea a;mon) with axes in the early

1900s in the Philippines. Most hardwood plywood now imported into the USA is

produced from species of Shorea.

[M 150 273-9Plywood mill in San Jose, Costa Rica, produces rotary-cut veneers mostly from banak (Virola spp.) and crabwood or cedro macho (Carapa guianensis). Logs trucked in from the Caribbean coast.]

M 150 273-21Mahot or Tauary (Couratari spp.) grows from Panama south to the Brazilian Amazon. Trunk diameters may exceed 4 feet above the stout buttresses. In tropical American moist forests, single species usually make up less than 5 percent of the stand volume.