Latin Name:Dalbergia nigra
Can reach a maximum of 125 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
Grows in South America

Color: The heartwood is not very attractive in young tees. In the older trees the color can range from deep reds to chocolate browns with dramatic black veins lines intertwined over the surface.
Properties: Straight grain, course texture, and average weight
Uses: Furniture, piano cases, handles, and decorative veneers.

Brazilian Rosewood has long been considered one of the most prized and beautiful of the furniture grade hardwoods due to its spectacular color range. However it's inherent beauty has been its downfall. Currently on the endangered list, it has a worldwide embargo on any new lumber being harvested and marketed until it has been allowed sufficient time to re-grow. There are reforestation programs currently underway; however, the logs must be a least one hundred years old to be commercially usable. So for the next few generations it is not very likely that we will see Brazilian Rosewood reintroduced as a marketable species. Occasionally one may stumble on small quantities of some retired cabinetmakers stocks of old Rosewood, but these finds are very rare and necessarily precious.

Terry Moore