Thuja burl wood (Tetraclinis articulata) is the name of the subterrestrial burls of the sandarac tree growing in the mountainous regions of the Atlas Mountains of North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia). This is a cypress with up to 12 m growth height, which supplies the aromatic sandarac resin in addition to the coveted burl wood after carving the bark. The resin is used for smoking essences, polishes, lacquers and technical applications. The wood also spreads a pleasant aromatic smell during processing. The coniferous wood is hard, fine and closely grained, from medium brown to chocolate brown in color, and the grained wood is structured with fine eyes. It can be worked very well and takes on very beautiful polishes with a lustrous shine. The burls are dug out of the earth on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains. They often originate from the roots of trees felled long ago or dead by fire and are difficult to find in the dry mountains, they can only be recovered with great effort, which makes this wood very expensive.
