Pau Rosa means rosewood in Portuguese, but this species (Swartzia fistuloides, syn. Bobgunnia fistuloides, B. madagascariensis) is no true rosewood, as the name suggests. The woods most pink colour and great density may have helped to obtain this descriptive popular trade name. The tree grows occasionally shattered in the southeast African rainforests of Mozambique and can grow up to impressive heights of approx. 30 meters and up to 1,10 m diameter. The wood of Pau Rosa is very hard, dense and heavy (approx. 1100 kg/m3) and is highly rot resistant. Due to the hardness, machining is only advisable with very sharp tools, but the results are very good and worth the effort.
The wood has an unusually wide variance in color and structure, with colors ranging from straw yellow, light brown, brown-red, pink to pale red, often interlocked grained, finegrained and often covered with a translucent yellow shimmer. Please take this range of possible colors into account when ordering items that are not individually illustrated. Its uses are very diverse, ranging from veneer and carvings to furniture, turned objects and musical instruments.
