Wood species index

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Afzelia Burl
Makamong, Craib, Afzelia (Afzelia xylocarpa) originates from SE Asia, the trees are native to Laos, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam and Cambodia. The stately trees can grow up to 300 years old and reach a height of around 30 meters with a maximum diameter of 2 meters. The wood of these trees is highly valued there, its hardness and durability are so great that it is used in a very wide range of applications from furniture construction to flooring and house building. The very dense, hard wood has an orange-reddish color that ages to a warm, red-golden tone and is very similar to that of Amboyna. The burl wood of this tree is particularly attractive, although it is also very rare and is one of the absolute rarities with its intricate, wild grain.

Afzelia Xylay
Makamong, Mai Te Kha (Afzelia xylocarpa) is a tree from the tropical zone of Southeast Asia. It grows sporadically in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Thailand and is a highly sought-after, valuable and rare specialty in these countries, which is in great demand for house building, furniture, carvings and musical instruments. The name Afzelia is known in Europe for a cheap African wood (Afzelia quanzensis), which looks very dull in comparison to its Asian relative. The tree grows up to 30 m high and can reach a diameter of up to 2 meters in 200-300 years.

Ailanthus, tree of the gods
Tree of heaven, stinking sumac, Chinese sumac, lacquer tree, copal tree, tree of paradise: The tree (Ailanthus altissima) has many names, has spread from north-eastern and central China across the temperate climate zones almost all over the world and is largely controlled as a neophyte due to its great invasive vigor. Around 1740, the tree was introduced to France by Jesuits as a park tree and has since spread widely, as it grows very quickly and cuts a fine figure as an ornamental tree. Due to its great height growth, in the first and second year after germination it can have a shoot growth of one to two meters, which is why it is often referred to as a tree of heaven or a 'tree (growing) to the gods'. Older specimens reach heights of around 25 - 30 meters, and their trunks can often be significantly thicker than 1 meter. Its moderately hard and heavy wood is similar to that of ash, it has an open-pored texture and the color is pale golden-brown with a slight sheen on smooth surfaces, sometimes with lighter yellowish or olive streaks. It is easy to work with hand and machine tools and is good for turning, gluing, staining and varnishing.

Almond tree wood
The almond tree (Amygdalus communis) grows wild in the southern part of Europe, and many people are probably familiar with the tree from Mallorca due to its unique flowering splendor, where the almond tree blossom is a major event in February. The tree, which has been cultivated for thousands of years, provides wood, resin and the coveted fruit. Almond trees also grow in sheltered locations in Germany, but they rarely grow very large. The hard wood is very difficult to dry and has a high tendency to crack; it is yellowish-white with a brown-flamed core. Crack-free larger pieces are a real rarity!

Amaranth, purpleheart
Amaranth (Peltogyne paniculata), also known as purple wood, comes from Surinam, Guyana and Mexico. When freshly cut, it is dull gray, but when exposed to light and air it quickly turns into a deep purple wood, hard and very dense. Because the wood is very valuable, it is only used for high-quality small and fine woodwork. The wood should be protected against UV radiation to prevent browning.

Amarello
Amarello, Pau Amarello, Yellowheart (Euxylophora paraensis) grows in the province of Para in Brazil and is probably the wood with the most intense yellow color. Its density, fineness in structure and color is very similar to that of boxwood, it is a boxwood substitute that comes very close to the real European boxwood, although it has nothing to do with it! Unlike real boxwood, this wood is available in larger quantities and is therefore well established on the market. Its extremely yellow color makes it a real eye-catcher, especially in combination with e.g. ebony in turned objects!

Amazakoue
Amazakoue, Ovangkol, Shedua (Guibourtia ehie) are trade names for a hard brown wood from southern Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and West Gabon, tropical West Africa. The evergreen trees grow up to 45 meters high, the mostly straight trunks reach lengths of up to 25 meters and up to 1 meter in diameter. The wood has an unpleasant smell when freshly felled, but is completely odorless when dried and can even have a spicy scent. It is relatively heavy, approx. 1050 kg/m3, yet hard and easy to work. The wood is particularly elastic and flexible, does not break easily and has excellent stability. The color of the sapwood is yellow-grey and often variegated, the heartwood is light brown to dark brown, with brown-black veins and streaks. The grain and texture is usually longitudinally striped, often also strongly veined and therefore very decorative. The most common use is certainly for veneers, furniture, turned objects and parquet flooring. Due to its very good acoustic properties, it is used in particular for musical instruments such as guitars, basses and xylophones, and parts of longbows are also made from the wood.

Amber tree
The amber tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) is a tree native to North and Central America, where it is called red or sweet gum. The large trees grow up to 40 m high and have also found their way to us. They are planted as ornamental trees because of their spectacular color change in autumn with bright purple-red leaves. In the USA, the tree is in demand as a timber supplier, its tough wood is beautifully grained, the reddish brown to dark brown heartwood (red gum) contrasts with the very broad, pale yellow, resin-rich sapwood (sap or sweet gum). The wood is used in a variety of ways in furniture making, both solid and processed into attractive veneers. The resin that gives it its name (Liquidambar = liquid amber), which is obtained by piercing resin bubbles under the bark, is still used in a variety of ways today; its components are used in the manufacture of chewing gum, perfumes, soaps and cosmetics, and the aromas are used for food and for perfuming tobacco.

Amboyna, yellow
Moudui burl, also known as yellow or golden Amboyna, (Pterocarpus spp.) comes from South East Asia, mostly from Laos and Thailand, and is one of the rarest and most expensive woods. The burls are usually without major defects, holes or ingrowths and are therefore in great demand. After surface treatment, the wood shows great visual depth and vibrancy, the color is an intense yellow to orange-red. Unfortunately, burls are no longer coming onto the market, which has led to a constant rise in prices.

Amboyna, red
Red Amboyna (Pterocarpus indicus) is a large tree that is known and highly valued in Southeast Asia under many names such as red narra, New Guinea rosewood, red sandalwood and angsana. Its distribution ranges from the Malay Archipelago, the Philippines, Borneo, New Guinea, Indonesia to the Solomon Islands. The wood of the tree is very hard, dense and often has a beautiful lustre. The color of the heartwood is intense fiery red, yellow or brownish colors also occur in the lower qualities, surrounded by pale yellow sapwood. The wood exudes a highly aromatic scent and is easy to work by hand. It is so highly valued in Asia for its good properties and durability as exclusive furniture wood and for flooring that many countries have imposed export restrictions to protect it. This makes narra one of the most expensive woods in Asia, but burls from these trees, which are highly sought after for veneer production under the name Amboyna burl, exceed this already high wood price many times over: these burls are and were by far the most expensive rarities in the global timber trade, used exclusively for the most exclusive work. Interiors of Rolls Royce, Maybach and private jets of Arabian princes were refined with this unique veneer!

Amboyna, Narra
Narra (Pterocarpus indicus) is a large tree that is known and highly valued in Southeast Asia under many names such as red narra, Amboyna, New Guinea rosewood, red sandalwood, angsana, Solomon padouk. Its distribution ranges from the Malay Archipelago, the Philippines, Borneo, New Guinea and Indonesia to the Solomon Islands. The wood of the tree is very hard, dense and often has a beautiful lustre. The color of the heartwood is an intense fiery red, with yellow or brownish colors also occurring in the lower qualities, surrounded by pale yellow sapwood. The wood exudes a very aromatic scent and is easy to work by hand. It is so highly valued in Asia for its good properties and durability as exclusive furniture wood and for flooring that many countries have imposed export restrictions. This makes narra one of the most expensive woods in Asia, only surpassed by the burls of these trees, which are known as amboyna!

Andrampotsy
Andrampotsy, also known as Manoka jaune or Fanola, is the name given to the wood of a rather small evergreen tree (Asteropeia rhopaloides) of the tropical rainforest that grows only in Madagascar. It is very rarely exported and is therefore quite unknown outside Madagascar. The wood is extremely hard and heavy (around 1200 kg/m3), its heartwood is intensely golden-yellowish against a paler sapwood, unusually fine grained and dense, shiny surfaces can be achieved by the finest sanding. In its native country, it is used for the heaviest loads; railroad sleepers, posts, flooring and furniture are classic applications for this wood.

Angelim, Red cabbage, St. Martin rouge
Angelim Vermelho (Andira coriacea) is the name given to the wood of a tree that grows in South America and on the Caribbean islands, where it is also known as red cabbage, rode kabbes, Saint Martin rouge, batseed or coraro. The very hard and heavy wood of the tree, which grows into mighty specimens, is dark red-brown, rather coarse-pored and is characterized by a striking longitudinal structure, which results from the alternation of hard wood fibres and soft parenchyma bands. This makes it look a little like red palm wood, but it has a more even density and is therefore easier to work with than palm wood. This very special wood comes from an underwater forest that was not cleared when the Brokopondo reservoir was built in Suriname (South America) in the 1960s before it was flooded - the value of the approx. 10 million cubic metres of wood was simply not recognized. Since 2004, the valuable trees have been felled with compressed air-powered chainsaws and the wood, which is better than freshly cut wood after being cut up in local sawmills and carefully dried, has been successfully marketed.

Apple tree
Everyone knows the apple tree (Malus domestica) for its symbolic power and delicious fruit; it is one of the most important fruit suppliers in Germany and Central Europe. Its original form is widespread throughout the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere, from which numerous cultivated forms with very tasty apples have developed through breeding. The attractive wood of the apple tree has very beautiful colors, the wood of the color core is red-brown to dark brown with sometimes dark, almost black markings, the sapwood, on the other hand, is clearly set off with a whitish-yellowish to very light gray color. Apple wood is very hard, tough, dense and heavy, very fine-pored and easy to work. Due to its excellent staining and polishing properties, it was often used to make veneers for attractive Biedermeier furniture, but also for ebony imitations. In arts and crafts and woodturning, it is often used to make tool handles, household and kitchen utensils, and is also used for technical applications such as toothed wheels and comb wheels. In its density, color and rather inconspicuous grain, the wood resembles that of the pear tree, so that these two woods are difficult to distinguish when not being steamed.

Ash
The ash (Fraxinus excelsior) is a widespread native tree with excellent hard and elastic wood of a light whitish to yellowish color. Mature trees develop a brown color core that looks very similar to olive wood. (Olive ash). Ash wood is an eternal classic for all wood craftsmen due to its good properties in processing and appearance! The rather rare burls found on ash are often cracked and wildly grained, but of incomparable beauty. With ash burl wood, there are always bark ingrowths, stress cracks or small cavities that have to be filled with putty!
Ash, Hungarian flowering ash Hungarian ash, Hungarian flowering ash is the name given to a growth form of ash wood that is hardly known today and has been used as an eye-catching decorative veneer on elaborate facade cabinets since the Renaissance period. This growth form is the result of three-dimensional wavy growth of the wood fibers; in maple, such characteristic growth is called blister or quilted, also cloud maple. This extremely rare growth abnormality seems to have occurred particularly in Hungary, but also in Romania; this very decorative veneer was also used in the territory of the Danube Monarchy, but this wood does not seem to have been on the market for about 100 years. I only know it from ancient stocks of veneers or rare 19th century furniture. One particular grain of Japanese ash, Tamo, is somewhat similar to this rare veneer, but without its incredible three-dimensional effect.

Ash-leaved maple
(Acer negundo), also known as Boxelder, develops uniquely beautiful burl wood, which is somewhat lighter, more yellowish and lighter than the wood of sycamore maple. It shines strongly and has a clearly recognizable grain. In the root area, it occasionally forms burls that are relatively soft, have a uniquely fine grain and look very beautiful. The colors can range from very light yellow to brown to reddish. The grain can be accentuated by staining and subsequent sanding, whereby the stain penetrates deeper into the swirls than calm areas and thus increases the contrast of the wood!

Ash, Swamp
Ash Swamp Ash (Fraxinus nigra), American: Swamp Ash, is a very famous wood in guitar making, as it has a particularly balanced, warm and brilliant sound with high sustain on the one hand, and on the other hand it stands out due to its particular lightness - more than desirable characteristics for an electric guitar body. Many famous Fender models of the 50s had a body made of this wood. The swamp ash, which is best suited for guitars, grows in the swamps and floodplains of Louisiana, in Bayou Country, where this wood comes from. The wood is open-pored, often has large and widely spaced growth rings and is ideally suited for clear lacquering due to its beautiful grain pattern.

Baitoa (boxwood)
Baitoa boxwood, St. Domingo boxwood Baitoa, also known as San Domingo boxwood (Phyllostylon brasiliensis) originates from the Caribbean. With its bright golden yellow color and its fine structure and fine pores, the wood is another of the fake boxwoods, but is absolutely equal to the original and is probably the most beautiful, intensely yellow wood with a deep shimmer.

Banksia wood
Most of you will probably be familiar with the whimsical cones of Banksia trees (Banksia grandis), which are often used for decorative woodturning. The associated tree grows in southwest Australia and reaches a height of 10-15 m, but usually remains rather smaller and is often only shrubby. The wood of the Banksia tree is moderately heavy and hard and, like almost all woods from the Australian continent, has a very unusual structure, reminiscent of a stippled, pearled surface and varies greatly depending on the direction and angle of the cut. It is certainly a very rare wood with an unusual appearance, good for turned objects with a special touch!

Barberry
The barberry (Berberis vulgaris) is more of a shrub than a tree, although old specimens can grow up to 5 meters high. It often grows on forest edges and as a hedge. Common in Asia and southern Europe, it was almost completely eradicated in Europe because it was recognized in the 19th century that the barberry was an intermediate host of the cereal black rust and thus contributed significantly to the spread of this cereal pest. The name sourthorn comes from the very sour berries and the three-part thorns on the leaf shoots. The flowers appear in May and are a bright, intense yellow. Barberry is said to have healing properties and extracts are still made from the fruit and bark today. The small red berries are sour, very rich in vitamins and were once used as fruit, their juice replacing lemons. The berries played a greater role in the production of jams, as the taste of this jam is very special and is appreciated by many people. The bark and root contain the strongly coloring alkaloid berberine, which was used to dye textiles, leather and wood yellow. The hard, dense and beautiful wood is used for marquetry and woodturning and has an extremely striking intense sulphur-yellow color that is very durable. The wood is very difficult to dry and has a strong tendency to crack, making it a unique and extremely rare wood! Bayur Burl
Bayur or Wadang Burl (Pterospermum javanicum) is the burl wood rarely available on the international timber market from a tree growing in Indonesia, particularly on the east coast of Java, which has been spread to other Southeast Asian countries, where it is called Nwalabyin (Myanmar), Melerang or Letop-letop (Sabah, Malaysia). The tree grows about 30-45 meters high, often grows crooked and spindly, is about 100 cm thick and its wood is medium hard and medium heavy, about 600 - 700 kg/m3. It is often referred to descriptively as redburl wood because of its unfamiliarity. The wood occurs in huge burls, which can often reach 1.50 meters in diameter and are always finely and evenly grained, with fine swirls, eyes, scarf buds and wild structures. The wood is very easy to work with due to its fine structure and will surprise any woodworker with its silky sheen and attractive red color after an application of oils!

Beefwood
Beefwood (Grevillea striata) comes from a tree growing in the steppes and desert areas of southwest Australia with tiny, needle-shaped leaves. Beefwood is a hard and dense wood with distinctively attractive markings, from reddish to dark red in color and striking mirrors in the radial section. In Australia it is used to make boomerangs. It is said to have been given its name because of its resemblance to a piece of beef meat.

Birch (Betula pendula) is the classic wood for the finest furniture, arts and crafts articles and especially for knife handles used by Nordic knifemakers. The wood is fine-pored, hard and dense, significantly heavier than normal birch wood. However, the occurrence is very limited, usually only very few such trunks are found among hundreds of normal birch trees. The formation of burl is genetically determined, and soil and site conditions probably also have an effect. The wood is so rare and valuable that it is traded by weight per kilo in the growing areas.

Black Box Burl
is the burl wood of a tree that biologically belongs to the eucalyptus family, whose name is Eucalyptus largiflorens. It grows to a height of around 20 meters and can be recognized by its scaly bark. It grows in southern Australia, where the tree is also known as the flooded box or river box. The wood of this tree is very hard and durable, even outdoors, which is why it is used for a wide variety of indoor and outdoor applications in house construction. The burl wood is beautiful and finely figured, and has the small longitudinal resin pockets typical of so many eucalyptus burls and is a highly prized specialty for fine craftsmanship.

Black Chacate
Black Chacate (Guibourtia conjugata) is the name given to the wood of a rather small tree for tropical Africa, which is a low-growing species with a height of around 5-9 meters and a trunk diameter of around 30 cm. The very dense and fine, almost non-porous wood is highly valued in southern Africa due to its deep dark brown, almost black color and is used there - if available - for fine small works such as furniture and handicraft objects. Black Locust
Robinia (Robinia pseudoacacia) is a tree that was introduced to Paris from North America around 1630 by Jean Robin (1579 - 1662) and subsequently conquered almost all of Europe and Asia. Its wood has a yellowish-green color and is full of good properties: Robinia wood is probably the most durable native wood, significantly more durable outdoors than that of the symbol of durability, oak. It is very elastic and tough, dense, very hard, shrinks little and hardly warps. Very popular with bow makers, it is rarely used in furniture making. Robinia burls are probably the finest, densest and most attractive wood, but only reveal their beauty on closer inspection.

Blackwood, African, Grenadill
Afrícan blackwood, (Dalbergia melanoxylon) is also known as Mozambique ebony, although it is not ebony but belongs to the rosewood family. For centuries, this extremely heavy (approx. 1400 kg/m3) and hard, almost black-violet wood has been a favorite of instrument makers (clarinets). The light yellow sapwood can also be processed and offers special design possibilities! In contrast to ebony, grenadilla has a clearly visible fine black pattern on a violet-dark brown background.

Blackwood, Tasmanian Acacia
Australian Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), also known as Tasmanian Blackwood or Acacia Blackwood, originally comes from Tasmania, Eastern Australia. The tree has been introduced to many countries around the world and also grows in southern Europe, for example. It grows to a height of 20-30 meters and is approx. 60 - 100 cm thick. The wood is very variable in color, contrary to what the name suggests, its wood is not black at all, but mostly medium brown to reddish brown, similar to its close relative Koa (Acacia koa), it also sometimes resembles European walnut. Decorative growth forms such as burl, figured or interlocked growth are much sought after and are highly valued. The wood is a cost-effective alternative to the very rare Hawaiian Koa. Australian blackwood is used for veneers, furniture, musical instruments, turnery and other wooden objects.

Blood plum
The red-leaved variety of the cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) is known as the blood plum, and there are also red-leaved species that are the result of crosses between cherry plums and related species. Originally from the Orient, the tree grows widely in Central and Southern Europe. The wood of the decorative trees, which only remain small, is very similar to that of the cherry tree, but is usually much more colorful with beautiful fiery red-violet streaks, with the sapwood contrasting pale yellowish. The wood is very hard, dense and cracks easily, making it difficult to obtain larger pieces without cracks. The wood is therefore only used for small handicrafts; knife handles, writing implements and jewelry are typical uses.

Bloodwood, Red Satiné
Bloodwood, Cacique, Cardinalwood, Satiné, red satinwood: many names for a wood that is called Muirapiranga (blood of the piranhas) by the Indians living in the Amazon region because of its color reminiscent of fresh blood. The wood comes from Guyana, Surinam and Venezuela, is a type of wood from the Amazon and is relatively rare there. This very hard wood has a calm structure and impresses with its beautiful light red to intense red color with a silky sheen, which does not yellow but rather intensifies with age. Because of its fine sheen, its color and attractive luster and luster, it is also called 'red satinwood' in French-speaking countries, as its sheen is reminiscent of a fine satin silk fabric.

Bluewood, Campeche
Bluewood or logwood, campeachy tree (Haematoxylum campechianum), also known as Campeche wood, is one of the oldest imported woods in the world. It was brought to Europe in large quantities from the Caribbean as early as the 16th century, from the Mexican port of Campéche. The tree is native to Mexico (Yucatan), Central America and the Caribbean islands. Its wood, known in trade as bluewood, was the most important of all colored woods and was highly sought after and very expensive in Europe in the 17th century. It was and is still used today as a raw material and extraction wood for the production of the dye hematoxylin. The imported large blocks, stripped of their light-colored sapwood, are dark blood red to brownish red on the outside and lighter, reddish to yellowish brown on the inside, gradually turning dark reddish brown when exposed to air. The wood is hard and dense, difficult to split and, apart from its use in dyeing, was rarely used as a timber in fine joinery, although its fine scent of violets made it attractive for gallantry goods.

Bocote
Bocote (Cordia gerascanthus), also known as Rio Grande or Mexico rosewood, is a very decorative South American hardwood. As a rule, only small dimensions are available; the tree rarely grows to more than 40 cm thick. The uniquely beautiful grain shows dark brown to black veins on a golden yellow to coffee brown background and ages to a beautiful warm brown base tone, from which the black grain clearly stands out! The wood resembles rosewood species, although biologically it is not a member of the Dalbergia family. With its striking, zebra-like contrasts and wild grain, bocote is a very eye-catching wood. By joining two mirrored boards or veneers, symmetrical, very striking grain patterns can be created. Bocote is used for its aesthetic qualities rather than its mechanical properties, and although Bocote is by no means soft, its weight is only around 850 kg/m3.

Bog oak
Bog oak (Quercus robur) is not a special type of wood, but is formed from dead oak trunks that have lain under water after dying in bogs and swamps. These do not rot in the absence of oxygen, but discolor over centuries and thousands of years from light grey to dark brown, blue-grey to deep black. Tannic acid in the oak wood reacts with iron ions in the groundwater, which strongly discolors the wood. The age of such subfossil oaks is between 500 and approx. 5000 years. The major problem with bog oak is drying: this is extremely tricky and almost always involves cracking. Dry, crack-free bog oak is very rare and therefore very expensive. Therefore, bog oak is only suitable for small, high-quality cabinetmaking projects.

Bolletrie wood (Manilkara bidentata) comes from the Caribbean and South America, mainly from Suriname, where it is exported in large quantities via Paramaribo. The wood of this tree, which grows to a height of around 40 meters and a diameter of around 1 meter, has countless names in its area of distribution, of which horse meat wood, beefwood, bulletwood, massaranduba and balata are just a few. The wood has a dark red to reddish-brown color, which has earned it the name beefwood in English or horsemeat wood in German. It is very homogeneous and has a fine texture, is very heavy (approx. 1100 kg/m3) and strong, particularly durable for outdoor use. It is used for all kinds of work, from furniture, house building and instruments to railroad sleepers and hydraulic engineering. These pieces come from an old stock and have certainly been stored for 20 years.

Bongossi, Azobe
Azobé, Ekki, Bongossi, Ironwood are common names for the wood of a tree growing in West Africa (Lophira alata), which is famous for its extremely durable, strong, long-lasting and heavy wood. The wood is one of the hardest and most resistant species known and is often used in hydraulic structures, port facilities, mining, bridges, machinery and equipment, as well as being chosen for flooring, worktops and handles due to its high acid resistance. The heartwood is dark reddish, dark brown to violet brown. The pores contain light-colored mineral deposits that form small but conspicuous streaks throughout the wood. Bongossi is often interlocked. The sapwood is light pinkish gray with a gradual transition between heartwood and sapwood. Bongossi wood has coarse pores, a matt appearance and, similar to wengé, it is easy to catch splinters when working with it.

Box elder, Ash-leaved maple
Ash-leaved maple (Acer negundo) develops uniquely beautiful burl wood, which is somewhat lighter, more yellowish and lighter than the wood of the sycamore maple. It shines strongly and has a clearly recognizable grain. In the root area, it occasionally forms burls, which are relatively soft, have a uniquely fine grain and look very beautiful. The colors can range from very light yellow to brown to reddish. The grain can be strongly emphasized by staining and subsequent sanding, whereby the stain penetrates deeper into swirls than calm areas and thus increases the contrast of the wood.

Boxwood, true European
Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) is an evergreen, very slow-growing, deciduous tree that rarely reaches the size of a tree in our latitudes, but can be found everywhere as a shrub. The wood is yellowish in color, often streaked with grey-blue veins and has an unusual hardness and density, and is very easy to polish: it is the hardest and heaviest native wood and is highly valued in instrument making (wind instruments), for chess pieces, pipe bowls, handles, tools and in model making. Strong trunk cross-sections are rarely sold, so boxwood is very scarce and expensive today. Boxwood is considered the finest wood for filigree woodturning.

Bubinga
Bubinga, Kevazingo (Guibourtia tessmannii) comes from West and Central Africa, Cameroon, Gabon. The wood is red to red-violet with narrow, often purple veins and a beautiful silky sheen. Interlocked grain and other grain abnormalities often occur and make the wood particularly decorative. The wood is hard, weather-resistant and easy to work! Bubinga is a decorative, valuable decorative and turning wood. Weight approx. 900-100 kg/m3.

Buckeye Burl
Buckeye burl (Aesculus californica) is the burl wood of a tree native to California, which is a close relative of the European horse chestnut. The wood of these burls is infused with a grey-blue color by a fungus, which makes it look very interesting and like a stone, almost marble-like. The wood resembles poplar and willow wood in its characteristics, so it is rather light and soft, its color can range from creamy-whitish to a typical pale yellow to blue-grey-anthracite. The burl wood is very finely grained, always multi-colored and with very beautiful color gradients one of the most beautiful burl woods we have!

Buckthorn
Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) is commonly known by many regional names, such as hawthorn, dyer's tree, field berry tree, witch's thorn, stag thorn, prickly thorn. The shrub usually only grows a few meters high and prefers to grow on forest edges, hedges and in sparse forests. It rarely reaches heights of up to 7 meters, usually remaining shrubby and low. The name 'Purgier' (= purgative) refers to the fact that the fruits have a strong laxative effect. Because of this effect, trivial names such as 'Schissbeere', 'Amselbeere', 'Gelbbeere', 'Rainbeere' or 'Kreuzdornbeere' are common. In the past, buckthorn berries were used to produce the dye sap green, and a yellow dye for staining wood was obtained from dried, crushed berries. The wood of the buckthorn is unusually hard and heavy, with a delicate orange-pink to pale red color and a sensationally deep luster and shimmer for a native wood. We know of no other domestic wood with such a shimmer. Here, buckthorn wood can easily compete with the most beautiful tulipwood from Brazil. In addition, the tree belongs to the Rhamnaceae family, which includes such illustrious woods as Pink Ivory (Rhamnus zeyheri), and we think a comparison of this German close relative as a native 'Pink Ivory' with the real South African Pink Ivory is entirely justified!

Bruyére
The burl wood of the tree heather (Erica arborea), a shrub from the heather family that grows to a height of around 3 m, is known as briar. It grows in the Mediterranean region and develops underground root tubers. Briar wood is light to reddish brown, often beautiful and very finely grained, very heat-resistant and therefore suitable for making tobacco pipes - it is the ideal material for pipe bowls. However, the tubers rarely reach more than soccer size, they are harvested when the shrub is about 50 years old and often show very fine swirly burl wood for the finest work. The wood is boiled for 12-24 hours to remove resins or sap that could affect the flavor.

Cabreuva, Peruvian balsam tree
The Peruvian balsam tree Cabreuva (Myroxylon peruiferum) is also known as Balsamo, Quina-Quina or Oleo Vermelho and comes from northern South America, e.g. Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and north-western Argentina. The trees are highly prized for their wood (cabreúva) and resin (tolu balsam, Peru balsam). Due to the high content of resins and balsams, the smell is often described as sandalwood-like, and the wood is therefore often referred to as Argentine sandalwood, which is misleading wood merchant prose (as is almost always the case with descriptive wood names). The name Santos mahogany because of its intense red-brown color is also incorrect; it is not a mahogany wood, but comes from the Fabaceae family. The wood is very fine and heavy, has narrow pores, is extremely durable and is easy to work with despite its hardness. The grain is even and fine-pored, and an interlocked grain often makes the wood particularly attractive. This fine wood is used in parquet flooring and individual pieces of furniture, and is also highly prized for woodturning.

Campeche
Campeche wood (Latin: Lignum campechianum, French: Bois bleu, Bois de campêche, Bois d'Inde, English: Logwood, Peach wood, Blackwood), also known as campeche wood, is one of the oldest imported woods in the world. It was brought to Europe in large quantities from the Caribbean in the 16th century, from the Mexican port of Campéche. The tree is native to Meiko (Yucatan), Central America and the Caribbean islands. Its wood, known commercially as bluewood, was the most important of all colored woods and was highly sought after and very expensive in Europe in the 17th century. It was and is still used today as a raw material and extraction wood for the production of the dye hematoxylin. The imported large blocks, which are stripped of their light sapwood, are dark blood-red to brown-red on the outside and lighter on the inside, reddish-brown to yellowish-brown, gradually turning dark reddish-brown when exposed to air. The wood is hard and dense, difficult to split and, apart from its use in dyeing, was rarely used as timber in fine joinery, although its fine violet scent made it attractive for gallantry goods.

Camphor wood
Camphor wood (Cinnamomum camphora) comes from South East Asia and is a member of the laurel family. The wood is yellowish to pinkish-red in color, sometimes veined with beautiful red stripes and has very attractive grain patterns. The wood has an intense, almost pungent aromatic smell (even after centuries), which most people are familiar with: for a long time, a very effective medicinal ingredient was extracted from the wood, which gave cold ointments their typical smell. The wood is excellent to work with and extremely durable. For this reason, old sailors' chests were always made of camphor wood, because no insect, no matter how exotic, would eat it and the laundry always had a fresh smell.

Canistel
Canistel (Pouteria campechiana) is the name of a rather small tree that is known and widespread in South America and Southeast Asia because of its striking fruits and flowers. It is also known as the chicken egg or eggfruit tree because of the shape and size of its fruit. The roundish to spindle-shaped fruits have egg yolk-yellow, tasty and aromatic flesh, which is why the tree has spread far beyond its native growing area in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean and is now particularly widespread in Southeast Asia. The close relationship of the canistel to the heather-like plants (Ericales) can be seen very clearly in the burls of this tree: their wood is extremely finely grained, very dense and hard, only the color is lighter than that of the more reddish briar. As the burls unfortunately do not grow very large, no larger pieces than approx. 20 - 30 cm in diameter can be found, but the extremely fine-grained wood is a real rarity.

Carob tree
The carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) is native to the Mediterranean. In Spain, where this wood comes from, it is called algarrobo. It is also known as the carob or carube tree because that is what its sweet fruits are called. When ripe, these large, shiny, leathery dark brown fruits are used as food in a variety of ways; they are used to make flour, syrup and the fruit skin is used to make carob coffee. The wood of the carob tree is very hard and heavy, yet dense and fine-pored, resistant and durable against rotting. It is light reddish with light sapwood and is therefore suitable for making fences, floors and doors. Because it is unbreakable, it is used for tool handles and walking sticks. It is also valued for making charcoal because it burns slowly.

Castelo (boxwood), Lemonwood
Castelo, Palo Blanco (Calycophyllum multiflorum) is a tree that is native to tropical South America and southern Brazil, where it reaches heights of around 20 meters. Its fine, very dense and heavy wood is often used as a substitute for the now rare European boxwood, as the occurrence and available trunk diameters are larger and more free of defects than the latter. The dry wood weighs approx. 850 kg/m3, Castelo is almost as dense, hard, fine-pored and firm as real boxwood, the pale yellow color and its excellent machining properties make it very similar to European boxwood. Castello is an excellent wood for carving and turning and is well suited for carving very fine details. It is very popular in model making because of its fineness and density. The wood is easy to polish and can be polished to a high gloss with wax. Thanks to its many good properties, Castelo has gained a firm place in woodwind instrument making and is often used for flutes.

Catalox
Catalox (Swartzia cubensis) is the name given to the wood of a tree that grows very sporadically in Mexico, Central and northern South America. It is also called Mexican ebony because of its color: initially dark purple with a hint of blue, the color ages to an almost black hue, sharply defined by yellowish pale sapwood. The wood is extremely hard and heavy (approx. 1.2 t/m3), very dense, fine-pored and very abrasion-resistant, which is why it is often used for high-quality fingerboards for electric guitars.

Catalpa, trumpet tree (Catalpa bignonioides) has come to us from far away, its home is East Asia and south-eastern America. It arrived in Europe in the 18th century. Because of its long spikes it has numerous trivial names such as cigar tree, bean tree, brissago tree, it is also called the official tree: its leaves come late (in May), disappear early (already in October) and its products (seed capsules) are preserved for a long time (hang on the tree over the winter). So it comes late and leaves early, leaving only work behind. Its splendid flowers, its large, striking heart-shaped leaves in May green and its large fruits make it a distinctive species that is often planted in parks and as a street tree in Germany. The wood of the trumpet tree is light and firm, light brown in color and at first glance is reminiscent of sweet chestnut wood. It is particularly durable and was traditionally used for fence posts and railroad sleepers, but it was also used as tonewood for guitars.

Cedarwood is a colloquial term that can refer to a wide variety of wood species. In Germany, cedar wood is generally understood to be the wood of the Virginia juniper, which we often encounter in everyday life: in very good quality pencils, in the form of moth rings, coat hangers, shoe trees or for smoking purposes. In reality, the characteristically fragrant wood, commonly known as cedar, is a tree of the juniper family, biologically known as Juniperus Virginiana. Virginian juniper, aka Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus Virginiana)grow on the east coast of the United States, but has been introduced as a tree in Germany for hundreds of years. In Europe, the Virginia juniper has been around since 1664, where it has proven to be absolutely frost-hardy and very durable. Frederick the Great had state specimens of these trees planted, for example on Peacock Island in Berlin and in other of his parks such as the New Garden, and large plantations of around 5000 of these trees are also known in Stein near Nuremberg, which were planted by Baron A. W. Faber for his pencil factory around 1870. At this time, around 80,000 young plants of the pencil cedar were deliberately planted here as wood for production, often in pure stands. These were later to form a separate forest for the coveted pencil wood. Unfortunately, the forest, which had grown to an impressive size in the meantime, was almost completely cut down after 1946 due to the great shortage of firewood. With free-growing specimens, it is common for the tree trunk to be heavily interspersed with branches, making the wood difficult to use.

Cedar, Lebanon Cedar wood, Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libani) is probably one of the most legendary, oldest and most frequently mentioned trees in human history, and is mentioned dozens of times in the Bible alone. Its outstanding importance in antiquity is based on its excellent properties as a building material for ships, houses, furniture and temples as well as the very pleasant scent that accompanies this wood, which is based on aromatic oils as ingredients.
The natural distribution area of Lebanon cedar is along the Turkish Mediterranean coast as far as Lebanon and western Syria, but as a park tree admired for its uniquely beautiful silouhette, the cedar reaches numerous locations in Western Europe, there are large populations in France, even in Germany and Great Britain there are impressive specimens. In Weinheim a.d. Weinstraße, for example, a Lebanon cedar planted around 1790 still grows to a height of 23 meters with a trunk circumference of over 5 meters.

Cedar, Kenya cedar (Juniperus procera) is the name given to the wood of this beautiful tree, which actually belongs to the cypress family, genus juniper. It is light, very durable and has an extremely pleasant aromatic scent. According to its origin, it is also called Kenya cedar or African pencil cedar, and differs from its close relatives from the USA by its almost knotless, straight growth and very fine annual rings as well as its lighter, yellowish-red color. This fine wood is used in instrument making, but it is also used to make mundane pencils.

Cedrach
The Indian cedrach tree, Chinaberry (Melia azedarach) belongs to the Meliaceae genus in the mahogany family. It got its nickname paternoster tree because rosaries are made from its stone cores. The tree is planted worldwide as a shade-giving park and street tree and as an ornamental shrub. Throughout its natural range, the cedrach tree is a commercially valuable timber tree, even though it is underutilized and underappreciated. It has also been introduced as an ornamental tree in the southeastern United States, although it is now considered an invasive species there. The heartwood is durable and easy to work. It is used to make furniture, toys, boxes, agricultural equipment and tool handles. The wood is also used as firewood and in India for paper production.
The wood is usually straight grained, the texture coarse and uneven, but with a distinct natural sheen. The color can range from a light, pinkish orange to a deeper, reddish brown. The color darkens with prolonged exposure to light. The clearly defined sapwood is light yellow.

Cedro, Spanish Cedar
Spanish Cedar, Cedro (Cedrela odorata) does not come from Spain, nor is it real cedar wood: it is a plant of the Meliaceae family, from which the real mahogany woods also originate. As is so often the case, the first importer gave the wood its popular name, ever since the Spanish introduced it to Europe in the 16th century. The smell of the wood is uniquely pleasant and aromatic, it absorbs moisture very well, and this wood is not attacked by insects: optimal suitability for cigars are the result of these properties, which made the wood irreplaceable as cigar box wood until around 1930. Intensive overuse has made this wood a rare commodity - good qualities have been hard to come by for years. Chakte Kok, Red Heart
Chakte Kok, also known as Red Heart, (Sickingia salvadorensis) is a rare and beautiful rarity from the tropical forests of southern Yucatan (Mexico) that cannot be compared with any other wood. It has a unique, beautiful, deep red to fiery red color, ages to crimson red and is sometimes streaked with fine, almost purple veins. Chakte Kok (=red wood) does not even come close to any other wood in terms of its color intensity, but the color should be protected from strong UV radiation with light protection varnish. The wood is hard, evenly workable and of medium weight, approx. 750kg/m3. Although highly resistant to weathering, Red Heart is only used indoors because of its decorative effect.

Chakte Viga
Chakte Viga or Paela is the name given in Mexico to the wood of a tree (Caesalpinia platyloba) that is highly valued there for its unique color and great durability. The rather small tree is about 6 - 9 meters tall and grows in Mexico and Central America. The wood is fine-pored with a very fine structure and, despite its hardness, is very easy to work. It impresses with its truly unique, deep, intense yellow-orange to orange-red, age-resistant color, which can sometimes be overlaid with a hint of red. Its extreme durability has been amply demonstrated in South America, where it is said to last up to a hundred years when used as a fence post. In appearance and properties, the wood is very similar to its famous close relative, the Brazil wood, pernambuco (Caesalpinia echinata), which is almost impossible to obtain and has been the first choice for string bows for centuries due to its excellent mechanical properties. But Chakte Viga or Mexican pernambuco has such good properties that it has absolutely nothing to hide behind its famous relative.

Chechen
Chechen wood (Metopium Brownei) comes mainly from the Yucatan rainforests in Mexico, but also grows in other regions of South America and the Caribbean. The medium-sized trees are widespread and play an important role as a source of wood for almost all traditional applications in building, construction and furniture. It is traded under numerous euphemistic fantasy names, which will not even be mentioned here, but one striking name in its native country is striking: it is also known there as black poisonwood, as the bark contains highly irritating sap that turns black on contact with the skin and can have a similar toxic effect on the skin as poison ivy. The wood itself, however, is completely harmless. The color of Chechen wood is very diverse and can range from coffee brown with red, orange to red stripes to very dark brown, often becoming mahogany-like reddish brown with age, while the sapwood is light yellow. The fine-pored and hard wood is easy to work with and dries easily and without problems.

Cherry, American
American cherry (Prunus serotina), black cherry, has a particularly beautiful, significantly darker heartwood than its relative, the native German cherry. It is just as finely grained, fine-pored, the fine pith rays appear as bright, shiny mirrors on the surface and make this wood look very noble. The color of American cherry ranges from light yellowish brown, intense reddish to deep dark reddish brown, clearly contrasting with the lighter sapwood. The wood always has a very elegant appearance, often showing interlocking, extensive flaming and looks particularly elegant with its matt sheen.

Cherry, European
The cherry tree (Prunus avium) is probably one of the most beautiful indigenous trees. They are widespread throughout most of Europe and were introduced to Europe from Asia Minor by the Romans. Primarily appreciated for its delicious fruit, the wood of the cherry tree has also gained a firm place in the favor of cabinetmakers and furniture buyers: the color of cherry wood is initially light reddish and ages to an incomparably beautiful rich deep golden red - no other wood has this warm color with so much depth, luster and shine. The medium-hard wood is very fine and almost without pores, it can be excellently polished - a shellac-polished Biedermeier chest of drawers attracts almost every eye. It is used for fine furniture and interior fittings, and is also very popular for musical instruments: once you work with it, you will know why.

Chestnut, sweet chestnut
The sweet chestnut or sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) originates from Asia Minor and North Africa and is now naturalized in warmer parts of Europe, northern France, in Germany on the Upper and Middle Rhine and in the Palatinate. Its high-quality wood is fine and glossy, relatively hard and of medium weight, difficult to distinguish from oak. The color ranges from light, almost yellowish sapwood to medium to dark brown heartwood. It has very good technical properties: it shrinks very little, is elastic and resistant to moisture and rot, which is why it is traditionally used to make barrels. Due to its high tannic acid content, the bark is used for leather tanning. The edible fruits are sold roasted as chestnuts and ground into flour, which was used to make bread in times of need.

Chestnut, horse chestnut
The horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) is a tree that is familiar to everyone and provides us with a wonderful natural spectacle every spring thanks to the exuberant splendor of its large blossom candles. Originally from south-eastern Europe, the chestnut is widespread and widely planted in Europe, but the large quantities of wood produced are hardly ever used. The properties of the wood are similar to those of poplar and willow, so it is rather light and soft, its color can range from creamy-whitish to a typical pale yellow to reddish or even brownish colors. The grain is usually calm and simple, and the wood only becomes interesting when it grows in a barred or flamed pattern. However, the effects of fungi can also result in particularly interesting reactive discolorations, which can range from silvery blue-grey, dark brown to anthracite. A particularly prized rarity is chestnut burl wood, which is very finely grained, always multicolored and with very beautiful color gradients, one of the most beautiful burl woods we have.

Chico Zapote
Chico Zapote, Sapodilla, Zapote (Pouteria sapota). This tree, which is rather small at around 10 - 20 meters, originally comes from southern Mexico and Central America, but is now widespread throughout South America and Southeast Asia. There it is mostly cultivated for its edible fruit (sapodilla) and the abundant white milky sap (chicle) in its trunk, which is used to make chewing gum. The fine-pored wood is very dense and heavy, extremely resistant to water and weathering. Completely intact beams made from this wood have been found in the ruins of Mayan temples. The color of zapote wood ranges from pink to red to dark red-brown, often with a slight purple tinge. The sapwood is light yellow and resin pockets are frequently found in this wood. The wood is used in its growing areas for furniture, house building, flooring, bows, instruments, woodturning and small handicrafts.

Citrus, lemon tree (Citrus × limon) is an evergreen tree from the citrus plant genus (Citrus sp.). The varieties of lemons known and still cultivated today probably originate from a cross between bitter orange (Citrus × aurantium) and citron (Citrus medica), which probably originated around the year 1000. In the German-speaking world, the word limone was also a widely used term for lemon, and is still used in Austria to this day. In French, the term lemonade originally referred to a refreshing drink made exclusively from lemons. The wood of lemon trees is also very similar to that of orange trees due to their common roots. Like orange trees, it is very light in color, pale yellow to almost white, very fine-pored, firm and dense. In contrast to orange trees, the bark of older trees is significantly thicker, more furrowed and coarser.

Cocobolo
Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa, D. tucurensis) comes to Europe in small quantities from Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The heartwood is orange-red to dark brown with black veins running through it. The wood is very hard and dense. It is used for tool and knife handles, musical instruments (fingerboards, wind instruments), sticks and brush handles. The grain and the play of colors have made cocobolo one of the most sought-after rosewoods. Even fine polishing gives the surface a dense, waxy sheen and very good finishes can be achieved. Cocobolo is an exceptionally luxurious wood for knife handles and small woodturning projects.

Cocus
Cocus wood (Brya ebenus) comes from a small tree from the legume family that is mostly native to Jamaica and occasionally other islands in the Caribbean. Despite the similarity in name, cocus wood has nothing to do with the coconut palm; it is also known as false green ebony or Jamaica ebony due to its density and hardness. The sapwood is cream-colored and clearly set off from the olive-green to dark brown-grey heartwood. Cocus wood often has a very attractive, typical interlocked grain, is extremely hard, dense and fine-pored and takes on a beautiful polish. In the 18th and 19th century, this wood was so much in demand for flutes that, due to the very high demand, this already rare and very slow-growing wood has become a great rarity. Cocus wood is mainly used for the finest turnery work and is still a preferred wood for wind instruments.

Coraçao de Negro, Gombeira
Coraçao de Negro, Gombeira, Wamara, Panacoco, Brazilian ebony, ironwood: there are many popular names for this wood (Swartzia panacoco ) which comes from Brazil, Guyana and Surinam. The wood plays an exceptional role due to its high density, hardness and its weight of approx. 1200 kg/m3 , making it one of the heaviest and hardest woods in the world, as well as being extremely weather-resistant. The challenge of working this wood is probably the main reason why this type of wood is rarely found outside of Brazil. The wood color is yellow-orange when freshly sawn and quickly darkens to a deep dark brown to almost black on contact with oxygen. Attractive markings such as interlocked grain occur frequently and give the fine-pored wood a silk-like sheen and the finest structures with an attractive, rosewood-like appearance. The wood is used in a wide variety of ways, from flooring, house building, musical instruments, bows, turnery, sculptures, bowling balls to knife handles and writing implements. In recent years, it has conquered its place in guitar making as a substitute for African ebony, since it has been used by Fender and Gibson for the fingerboards of expensive models.

Corkwood
Corkwood (Hakea suberea) occurs exclusively in Australia as a rather small, mostly twisted tree. It got its name because of its typical 3-4 cm thick bark, which is reminiscent of cork oak. The wood is very hard and durable, it has a light brown to silvery grey color and shows in detail a very beautiful and attractive, as if woven and intertwined structure of the wood fibers. It was used by the Aborigines for weapons and tools because of its hardness and durability!

Cornelian cherry
The cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) has a variety of regional names: Herlitze, Dürlitze, Hirlnuss, in Austria also Dirndl, Dirndling, Dirndlstrauch or Gelber Hartriegel, in German-speaking Switzerland it is called Tierlibaum. The cornelian cherry belongs to the dogwood genus (Cornus), it usually grows as a shrub and rarely grows taller than 5 meters. The wood is very hard and heavy, tough and durable.

Cypress
The cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) is an evergreen tree that characterizes the Mediterranean region and can have very different growth forms. The most striking are the columnar forms up to 20 meters high, which are particularly common in Tuscany. The (weeping) cypress originally comes from Asia Minor, but is now widespread throughout the Mediterranean region and is also known as the Italian cypress or Mediterranean cypress. The wood of the cypress has been highly valued since ancient times due to its high durability; statues of gods, temple doors, sarcophagi and ships were made from it. Its durability was just as great as that of the much rarer cedar. Its intense, fresh lemony scent made it particularly suitable for chests and cupboards, and the materials stored in them were safe from moth damage. In addition to the light color, numerous small pin knots are typical of the wood, but they are firmly attached. Cypress wood is light (around 600 kg/m3) and is used in a variety of ways for wooden constructions, musical instruments, guitars, furniture, boat building and woodturning. Even after years of drying, cypress wood has a very pleasant, aromatic and spicy scent!

Degame
Degame (Calycophyllum candidissimum) comes from a rather rare tree whose natural range extends from Cuba via southern Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela. The large tree, which can reach a diameter of around 75 cm, has a very straight, fine and hard wood with a light, yellow color. This is the origin of the popular name Lemonwood, by which the wood is known in the Anglo-American language area. The hard, elastic, very fine-pored and straight-grained wood is primarily used for bows, but also for fishing rods, cues, tool handles and technical purposes similar to boxwood, which it resembles visually in many properties.

Desert ironwood
Desert ironwood (Olneya tesota), also known as Arizona ironwood or Palo de Fierro, comes from the Sonoran Desert in southern California, southwestern Arizona and northern Mexico. The wood is usually golden-yellowish-brown with a black grain, the narrow sapwood is white-yellowish. The wood is extremely fine, dense and hard, rarely as beautifully grained as here and is probably the heaviest wood in the world. The trees of the desert iron tree grow very slowly, live for up to 2000 years and are practically indestructible even after they die in the desert. The quantities available are extremely small, the tree has long been a protected species and even the collection of dead wood in the Sonora Desert is prohibited. The indigenous Seri Indians have a long and famous tradition of working the ironwood; they use it to make arrowheads, handles and carvings that have the wildlife of the desert as their theme.

Ebony, Indian
Indian ebony (Diospyros ebenum) has been valued for centuries for its density, fine pores and particularly beautiful deep colors and luster. Flawless blackness is generally rather rare in ebony, lighter stripes, spots or veining are typical, a slight tinge of steel blue, even very dark brown shades are characteristic of this rare wood with a metallic sheen. Indian ebony is characterized by its typically extremely fine-pored quality and easily takes on a beautiful sheen through fine sanding and polishing. Ebony, Asian, Kamagong
Kamagong, also known as Camagon (Diospyros mindanaensis) is the name of a large (up to approx. 30 m) tree from the Philippines, which is valued and cultivated there for its fruit. As with other date trees, its fruit (mabolo) is prized and eaten, even though its furry skin is said to smell rather repulsive, like overripe cheese. This tree, which belongs to the ebony family, has a very attractive wood that is highly valued for its hardness and durability and is used in the Philippines for a wide variety of fine crafts, including fighting sticks. The wood is very heavy and resembles macassar ebony, but has a specific color and structure.

Ebony, Madagascar
Madagascar ebony (Diospyros perrieri) is a species endemic to this island, which is considered to be particularly fine-pored and precious, but whose export is strictly limited due to the high demand. The wood has a slight tinge of steel-blue, and very dark brown shades or rare light stripes are also characteristic of this rare wood. Since it has been protected under the Cites Agreement, it is only exported illegally to China. Ebony, Mun ebony
Mun ebony, Vietnam ebony (Diospyros mun) only grows in Vietnam and occasionally in Laos and is a rare, very sporadic and slow-growing tree in these countries. The wood has a very attractive two-tone brown-black veining, but far less beautiful gray-green tones can also determine its appearance. The best quality is considered to be the finely and evenly striped heartwood with caramel-yellow and deep black stripes in even patterns. The wood is very hard and firm, extremely fine-pored, durable and of high quality and can be polished to a high gloss, making it a truly precious rarity.

Ebony, white ebony
White Ebony (Diospyros embryopteris) is also called Royal White Ebony. It is a genuine ebony and is one of the colored ebony woods like Makassar, but it is much lighter in tone and much rarer and more expensive than the latter. It is extremely rare and comes onto the market in homeopathic quantities from Burma, Vietnam and Laos. Because of its beauty and rarity, it has been highly coveted for centuries and was always reserved for the kings and rulers of the countries of origin. The wood is very sensitive to drying and tends to crack because of the high tension in the wood due to the white-black contrasts. Ebony, West African
Ebony (Diospyros crassiflora) has been one of the most prized woods for centuries; even the Egyptians used it for valuable work. The wood is very dense and hard. West African ebony is dark in color, but can also have gray streaks and is very easy to polish. Typical for ebony are lighter stripes or spots, flawless blackness is very rare and is only found in approx. 10 % of the wood. Specific weight approx. 1200 kg / m3, hardness very high, availability still good at present, but becoming increasingly scarce.

Ebony, Makassar ebony
Makassar (Diospyros celebica) is a striking brown and black striped ebony named after its main port of export on the island of Celebes (now Sulawesi) in eastern Indonesia. With its striped appearance, this extremely attractive and highly decorative wood is one of the colored ebony woods and is highly sought after for high-quality interior fittings as well as for arts and crafts. Its mechanical properties are very similar to those of black ebony, but it is many times rarer and therefore more expensive than black ebony - Makassar is currently one of the most expensive woods on the market.

Elder wood
Black elder (Sambucus nigra) is a shrub or tree that is native to Europe and will be familiar to most people because of its lush white and yellow flowers that bloom in June and have a slightly pungent smell. The tree has many regional names, but the term elder is used everywhere. Rich legends have accompanied this tree, which has been important to mankind since time immemorial, and its significance was not only based on its prized fruit and flowers. The dark purple to almost black fruits of the elder have always been used by humans, but its easily workable wood has also found many applications as a hard and dense material with the characteristic pith in its center, just as the bark is used in naturopathy.

Elm burl (Ulmus spp.) from the European elm tree is a very attractive burl wood with a wide range of colors. It can have many different colors, from pale yellowish to glowing red to rich dense brown, and is rarely as beautifully grained as this piece of elm burl wood. A disease caused by fungi, which was rampant throughout Europe, decimated the elm population considerably and turned the wood into a rare variety. The piece of burl wood is beautiful to work into a bowl, for example!

Fig tree
The fig tree (Ficus carica) grows throughout the Mediterranean region and has long been the epitome of the dream of the south - Frederick the Great had a "glass mountain" with glazed greenhouses for growing fig trees built in his Sanssouci Palace in 1770. All Europeans are probably familiar with the fruit of the fig tree, which is traditionally widely used as a sweet treat in winter, but the wood of this tree or shrub is a truly exotic product that is rarely used. Fustik, brazilwood, yellowwood Fustik (Morus tinctoria), also called yellow brazilwood, old fustik, Bois de Fustet (F). The heartwood of the dyer's mulberry tree, which is native to the West Indies (Caribbean islands) and Mexico, contains an intensely golden yellow coloring substance that is widely used in pharmacy (called lignum citrinum there), but above all for dyeing wool, silk and leather. This is why this wood has been imported to Europe since around 1600. Yellowwood also serves as an excellent hard and dense material in cabinetmaking for the production of fine small items of unique color.

Ginkgo
The ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba) is a living fossil with an evolutionary history stretching back some 250 million years. It survived the last ice age almost unchanged in southwest China, from where it arrived in Europe around 1730. Since then, this unique tree has spread around the world due to its high tolerance of exhaust fumes and polluted air. But also because of its unusual appearance and great mystical and medicinal significance, the ginkgo plays an important role in people's art and culture and has therefore become widespread everywhere. The wood of the ginkgo tree is light in color, light and rather soft, similar to that of coniferous woods and is very easy to work with. In Japan, it is traditionally used to make kitchen utensils and utensils for tea ceremonies, but it is also used to make furniture, shrines, go boards, carvings and altars. The wood of this mature wood tree is yellow-brown, the sapwood hardly any lighter. It is extremely rare to find, as no trees are felled for timber, but only rarely trees are felled due to natural ageing.

Gmelina
Gmelina (Gmelina arborea) is also known as Yemane or Gumhar in Burma, Vietnam and Malaysia, where it grows into trees around 30 meters high. The fast-growing tree is now widespread throughout South East Asia and is also planted in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The light heartwood (dry 450 - 600 kg/m3) is moderately durable, brown-yellow to light yellow, barely separated from the lighter sapwood. In its traditional growing areas, the wood is used for every conceivable purpose, from doors, windows, furniture and flooring to woodturning and musical instruments, it is a truly universal wood. Because of its good properties, it is now planted in large plantations almost everywhere in the world where suitable growing conditions prevail. Goldfield burl The name Goldfield (Eucalyptus spp.) does not necessarily refer to a specific type of wood, but is the name of a region with gold deposits in Western Australia. Many burls are harvested there, which can generally be assigned to the eucalyptus family. Other trade names for various woods found there are: Black Butt, Corrugata, Salmon Gum, York Gum, Woodline Mallee, Gimlet. Goldfield burl is very dense, hard and heavy (approx. 1200 kg/m3) and is the only Australian burl wood with few cracks, holes or resin pockets, which makes it ideal for fine work.

Goncalo Alves, Tigerwood Goncalo Alves (Astronium fraxinifolium), also known as Tigerwood or Jobillo, is a wood from the South American continent, its distribution area extends from Mexico to Brazil. The sporadically growing tree produces very resistant and hard, heavy, highly decorative wood, which is also attractive due to its striking light-dark contrast. The wood has excellent rigidity, strength, hardness and durability. The basic color of the fine-pored and dense wood is reddish-brown, it is usually veined and streaked with striking dark brown stripes, also spotted, which is probably where the name Tigerwood comes from. The weight is approx. 900 kg/m3. Goncalo Alves is used in shipbuilding, for flooring, parquet flooring, processed into veneers for furniture and interior fittings, for knife handles, tool handles, cues, turnery and the like.

Granadillo , Macacauba Granadillo (Platymiscium yucatanum), also known as Macacauba, Coyote, Cristobal or Macawood, grows on the Yucatan Peninsula in southern Mexico, in Belize and in northern Guatemala. The trees, which can grow up to 40 meters tall and are very sporadic in lowland forests, produce a very beautiful, fine-pored, reddish-brown, extremely hard and dense wood with fine black stripes running through it. A wide range of variation also allows very light red to very dark brown trunks to appear. The wood is quite similar to various Dalbergia rosewood varieties such as Rio or Amazon rosewood or cocobolo, but it has absolutely nothing to do with grenadilla, which belongs to the rosewood family. Its great hardness combined with very good resonance properties make the wood an excellent tonewood. In South America it is considered the best tonewood for marimba and xylophone, also for guitars, and is often referred to as "La Madera Que Canta" ("the singing wood"). Granadillo is said to have a ringing, bright tone and is becoming increasingly popular with American instrument makers.

Greenheart
Demerara Greenheart (Ocotea rodiaei, syn. Chlorocardium rodiei) is a really rock-hard wood from Guyana, Surinam and Brazil, which is known by many names: Bibiru, Sipiri, Kevatuk (Guy.), Beeberoe, Groenhart, Sipiroe (Surin). The tree grows to a height of 25 - 30 m, its heartwood is pale greenish, brown to almost black colors also occur, surrounded by pale yellow sapwood. The extremely heavy wood (around 1200 kg/m3 dry) is very durable and dense, it is elastic and is used for many purposes: it is the first choice in hydraulic engineering and shipbuilding, for machines and bridges, floors and vessels in chemical production. But fishing tackle, sports equipment and tools are also made from the wood, and it is very popular with wood turners and even for tobacco pipes. Freshly processed wood has a characteristic aromatic nutmeg-like smell.

Hackberry, Southern hackberry
The southern hackberry (Celtis australis), which grows sporadically in Germany as a park tree, originates from the Mediterranean region, North Africa and West Asia and is native to southern Europe along the Mediterranean coast as far as Istria and Tyrol. According to the latest findings, it belongs to the hemp family (Cannabaceae) and forms trees that grow to a height of around 20 meters with trunk diameters of 30-50 cm. The tree has rough, heavily furrowed bark, its asymmetrical leaves are reminiscent of elm leaves and have a serrated leaf edge. In spring, it bears small, inconspicuous green flowers and develops pea-sized, orange to reddish-brown drupes in the fall, which turn dark brown to almost black when ripe in winter and are often eaten by birds. In South Tyrol, these fruits are called Zürgeln. The wood is similar to ash or elm, but is much harder and heavier. The tough, elastic, fine and heavy, pale white to slightly greyish, silky-glossy wood (historically known as Trieste wood) is used to make wind instruments and traditionally for whips, fishing rods and oars due to its toughness and elasticity.

Holly (Ilex aquifolium) is an evergreen shrub that rarely grows to the size of a tree. It needs mild winters, humid summers and does not tolerate the sun: this is why holly thrives particularly well in England, where it plays a very important role as a Holly Tree at Christmas time, but also grows in suitable locations in northern Germany and, for example, Switzerland and Austria. The attractive tree has leathery dark green leaves and beautiful dark red berries. The plant played an important role in Germanic and Celtic mythology, it was sacred as a symbol of eternal life and some branches in the house protected against lightning and evil spells. The wood of the holly is particularly light and hard, extraordinarily tough and has almost no structure or grain. The freshly cut, almost white color quickly changes to a greenish-blue color. The wood was sought after for its toughness and high density; it is said that tool handles made of holly wood do not blister the hands. It was therefore sought after for whip handles, walking sticks and hand grips. Goethe's walking stick made of holly wood is still on display in Weimar today.

Holm oak
The holm oak (Quercus ilex) is a very old evergreen deciduous tree from the Mediterranean region and has very hard, durable and extremely interesting grained wood. The structure and grain of this really beautiful, high-quality and rock-hard wood are very unusual: the range is so wide that the only typical features are the huge mirrors and a structure that looks like braiding. The tree (protected in Portugal) from which the wood originates was very old and has the occasional tiny holes caused by insects that are typical of the Mediterranean region and cannot be compared with our woodworm!

Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) is a species of birch that is widespread throughout Europe and as far as East Asia. Despite its name, the wood has no relation to the beech family. The wood is almost white, very hard, very heavy, dense and tough, it has also been called ironwood and is by far the heaviest and hardest indigenous wood. Due to its white color, it resembles the wood of the holly tree, but sometimes has a slight grey tinge. Due to its high strength and toughness, the wood is traditionally used for tools, planes, handles, mallets, screws, rollers and wainwright's work as well as in mechanical engineering (mills, looms, etc.). The expression hanebüchen (for rough, coarse and unbelievable) goes back to hornbeam.

Horse chestnut
The horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) is a tree that is familiar to everyone and provides us with a wonderful natural spectacle every spring thanks to the exuberant splendor of its large flower candles. Originally from south-eastern Europe, the chestnut is widespread and widely planted in Europe, but the large quantities of wood produced are hardly ever used. The properties of the wood are similar to those of poplar and willow, so it is rather light and soft, its color can range from creamy-whitish to a typical pale yellow to reddish or even brownish colors. The grain is usually calm and simple, and the wood only becomes interesting when it grows in a curly or flamed pattern. However, the effects of fungi can also result in particularly interesting reactive discolorations, which can range from silvery blue-grey, dark brown to anthracite. A particularly prized rarity is the burl wood of the chestnut, it is very finely grained, always multi-colored and with very beautiful color gradients one of the most beautiful burl woods we have. Stabilization makes the soft wood usable without restriction!

Imbuia, pepperwood
Imbuia (Ocotea porosa) originates from the south of Brazil and is a medium-hard and heavy wood that is excellent to work with. Because of its characteristic (pleasant) peppery smell when worked, it is also known as pepperwood, and because of its color it is also known as Brazilian walnut, without being related to the nut trees. The color of Imbuia is yellowish-olive to chocolate brown, darkening to dark nut brown, mostly striped, sometimes even beautifully grained with a wild grain, as here. The wood is very durable and is used for high-quality woodturning, handicrafts, gun stocks and knife handles.

Iroko, Kambala (Milicia excelsa) is a type of wood that is imported to Europe from tropical West and Central Africa, for example from Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique. The trees of this genus grow very large, 30 - 40 meters in length with a trunk diameter of up to 1.5 meters are not uncommon. The wood is very durable and hard, but at the same time very light at only approx. 650 kg/m3. The heartwood is usually pale yellow to golden or medium brown, darkening considerably over time. It has a medium to coarse grain with open pores, rarely with interlocked grain. Due to its good durability, it is sometimes used as a substitute for real teak and can be used for a wide range of interior and exterior applications. It is used in interior fittings, for veneers, as construction wood inside and outside, for floors, stairs, furniture, windows, doors, and because of its durability in boat building, car body construction, especially acid vats made of iroko are very durable because of its resistance to acids and bases.

Ironwood, Australian
Australian ironwood (Acacia excelsa) is also called Doodlallie or Bunkerman. This small tree grows locally only in the very dry desert regions of New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. These trees remain very small, a trunk diameter of 10-15 cm is considered normal. The wood of this ironwood tree is brand new on the market, it is extremely stable, hard, dense and durable, its color varies from dark brown to almost black and shows like all desert woods a very fine structure and interesting grain, can be worked well and is a real rarity on the market. Some blanks can have brightly contrasting sapwood, which is just as hard as the dark heartwood.
Ironwood, Brazilian, Panacoco Ironwood (Swartzia tomentosa) is a deep brown-red to black-brown, extremely hard wood with yellowish-white sapwood. It is very dense, quite elastic and very heavy. Due to its high density, increased force is required when working it. Despite its hardness and weight, it can be worked quite well. It is used in woodturning, the stick industry and for violin bows.

Ironwood, Arizona Desert ironwood (Olneya tesota), also known as Arizona ironwood or palo fierro, comes from the Sonoran Desert in southern California, southwestern Arizona and northern Mexico. The wood is usually golden-yellowish-brown with a black grain, the narrow sapwood is white-yellowish. The wood is extremely fine, dense and hard, rarely as beautifully grained as here and is probably the heaviest wood in the world. The trees of the desert iron tree grow very slowly, live for up to 2000 years and are practically indestructible even after they die in the desert. The quantities available are extremely small, the tree has long been a protected species and even the collection of dead wood in the Sonora Desert is prohibited. The indigenous Seri Indians have a long and famous tradition of working the ironwood; they use it to make arrowheads, handles and carvings that have the wildlife of the desert as their theme.

Ivy
The common ivy (Hedera helix) does not usually grow as an independent shrub or tree, but is an evergreen climbing shrub. However, with increasing age, ivy can reach respectable woody stems of up to 25 cm in diameter. Ivy is often found in Germanic and Greek mythology, and many magical effects were attributed to its leaves and wood. The wood of the ivy is very rarely processed, the large diameters are too rare and the wood, which is very easy to work with, looks too ordinary. However, it is occasionally used for woodturning, walking sticks, umbrella handles and carvings.

Jatoba
The jatoba tree (Hymenea courbaril) is widespread in large parts of Central and South America and the Caribbean, with the main growing area in Brazil. It is known by many local names, Paquió and Courbaril are just two of them. The trees usually grow to very impressive heights of around 35 m, and trunks with a diameter of over one meter are not uncommon. Jatoba is largely unknown in Europe, as it is a precious wood with a high resistance class and pleasing coloring, it has hardly any pores, which means that even and closed-pored surfaces can be produced. Interlocking growth of the wood is rare and usually not very pronounced. The heartwood can vary from a light orange-brown to a darker red-brown, sometimes interspersed with contrasting gray-brown streaks. The color darkens when exposed to light, whereby the sapwood is a light grayish yellow and is clearly distinguishable from the heartwood. Jatoba is used in many ways, e.g. as: Flooring, for furniture and interior fittings, for tool handles, in shipbuilding, for railroad sleepers, for turned objects and handicrafts.

Jequitibá
Jequitibá Rosa (Cariniana legalis), also known as Abarco, originates mainly from Brazil and other countries in tropical to temperate South America. The pale pink to reddish, light, medium-hard wood of these giant trees, which is somewhat similar to mahogany, has a long tradition in trade between the Caribbean (Westindies) South America and seaports in Europe: this wood was used to make the sturdy, roughly coffin-sized transport crates (caixas) in which 200 - 300 kg of sugar was imported to Europe. The common name 'sugar crate wood' comes from this. This wood, which accumulated in significant quantities in ports and on the coast after the crates had been emptied, was recycled and used in furniture and instrument making; it has even been found in Rembrandt's paintings as wood for painting panels. In most cases, furniture made from sugar crate mahogany has easily recognizable cemented holes, which were made by nails during its use as a transport crate for cane sugar. The wood here comes from a piece of Biedermeier furniture and probably made the journey across the Atlantic as a sugar crate in the 18th or 19th century.

Juniper, common juniper
The common juniper (Juniperus communis) is a shrub that is widespread throughout Europe and North Africa as far as North America and only sometimes reaches tree-like size, for example in the Lüneburg Heath. In the history of mankind, the wood of the juniper has been held in high esteem since ancient times; it was already used in Egypt for furniture and sarcophagi. As an evergreen plant on Germanic graves, they were the guardians on the threshold between life and death. The name juniper is derived from guard-keeper, which is supposed to enable the buried person to return to life. The many names that our ancestors knew for the juniper bear witness to its great importance and esteem: Fire tree, Kaddik, Krammetsbaum, Kranewitt, Machandel tree, incense bush, Reckholder, quail berry bush, Weckholder or incense tree are some of the many names for this diverse plant. The wood of various juniper species is often incorrectly referred to as cedar wood. Due to its slow growth, the wood of the juniper is very fine, tough and extremely durable, the heartwood is reddish brown with a light, yellowish sapwood. It is relatively soft and has probably the most delicious scent a wood can have: a wonderful aromatic fragrance reminiscent of incense accompanies everyone who works with it. The wood is highly sought after for handicrafts, woodturning and carving.

Juniperus virginiana
Virginian juniper red juniper, also known as eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is, like Kenya cedar, a cypress plant, subgenus juniper. The tree grows in North America from North Carolina to Florida along the Atlantic. The tree was introduced to Europe in the mid-17th century and its wood has enjoyed great popularity ever since - for example, Frederick the Great's cedar furniture in Sanssouci and much Prussian court furniture was veneered with this exotic wood - a material good enough for court and kings! The tree grows to a height of around 15-20 meters, does not reach a very old age (around 100 years) and is now native to parks and gardens in Germany, but is still a special feature. The color of the wood varies from whitish-light yellow to almost violet-reddish and is irregularly brightly spotted, often interspersed with large knots, as these trees are scattered and develop many branches. The pleasure of working with this wood is unique: it is light, yet strong, hardly cracks or warps and is extremely resistant even in the ground. The very intense smell is indescribably pleasant, and its moth-repellent effect is still an aspect today. Even today, this wood is still used to make decorative items for closets as well as humidors, shoe trees and flute mouthpieces due to its moisture-regulating effect. Cedar oil is also obtained from this juniper plant, although it is not a cedar in the biological sense: the fragrance of this wood is more pronounced than that of any real cedar of the genus Cedrus, so that this wood has become a substitute for cedar in everyday language.

Kamagong Ebony
Kamagong Ebony (Diospyros blancoi, D. mindanaensis) is also known as Asian Ebony, Burmese or Malaysian Blackwood/Ebony. The tree of the ebony family can reach a respectable 60-80 cm in diameter and 10 - 16 meters in height. The trunk forms a very hard wood that is highly valued in the countries of origin in South East Asia. In the Philippines, the tree is cultivated for its fruit, called mabolo, and its wood is used in the construction of high-quality furniture, art objects, knives and fighting sticks. It is also used for guitars, but the limited availability of the wood limits its success. The dark heartwood with its color scale ranging from brown to violet-black is sharply contrasted against the equally hard light brown sapwood, this contrast results in very beautiful design possibilities. The wood is very heavy and resembles Macassar ebony, but has a specific color and structure.

Kauri, swamp kauri
Kauri is the wood of the kauri spruce (Agathis australis) from the Araucaria family, which grows in New Zealand. The trees grow extremely slowly, as a rule they are only 10 meters high after 100-150 years and only then form a crown; however, in the course of 200-500 years they reach trunk heights of approx. 50 m and diameters of up to 6 m with candle-straight trunks that are largely knot-free: the excellent properties of the wood greatly accelerated its disappearance. The wood has become extremely rare today; 150 years ago there were still huge kauri forests in New Zealand (the only place where the tree grows), but these were cut down as early as 1800. Industrialization accelerated this deforestation from 1860 onwards to such an extent that only a few of the imposing giant trees have survived in small protected areas such as the Waipoua Forest, which has been strictly protected since 1950. The light, strong and durable softwood was used by the Maoris to make war canoes (wakas). The white explorers of New Zealand then used the wood far more profanely and irresponsibly to make flooring, construction timber, ships, furniture and crates. The wood offered here comes from a reforestation project and is a great rarity. There is also bog kauri available, which, like bog oak, was stored underground in swamps under exclusion of air, but salvaging and drying it is very expensive.

Khaya, African Mahogany
African mahogany, Khaya (Khaya ivorenis, K. Senegalensis) is strictly speaking not a true mahogany like its South American relatives from the Swietenia family, but at least both woods belong to the Melaicea family. Its attractive appearance, its good qualities and its popularity are such that it is often regarded as genuine mahogany in contrast to sipo, sapele or other woods and has found a permanent place in the trade. Khaya often grows into gigantic trees, so that large widths and lengths of very good quality are available. The wood is medium-hard and heavy, has very good stability and shines with very vivid colors. Khaya mahogany is initially yellowish-pink after splitting, darkens quickly under the influence of light to an intense reddish-brown and is then quite color-stable. The wood is often alternately twisted and, after a good surface treatment, produces very beautiful deep grains with a strong lustre effect. The pyramid veneers obtained from knot forks in the plait of the main trunk are particularly sought after. These are still among the classic mahogany grains and are in great demand for high-quality and expensive interior fittings.

Kingwood
Kingwood (Dalbergia cearensis), also known as violet wood or violet wood, is a collective term for various particularly beautiful types of rosewood. The name is said to derive from the privilege of tribal kings to trade these woods. The wood comes from north-east Brazil, from the provinces of Ceará and Bahia. The trees rarely grow thicker than 30-45 cm, so large pieces are rarely found in the trade. The color of the wood is vivid and intense purple, dark brown to black streaks against a sometimes bluish base tone next to a creamy white sapwood give it an unmistakable appearance. The wood is very hard, heavy, has particularly fine pores and is extremely decorative, can be worked very well and is only processed into high-quality products such as flutes.

Koa
Koa trees (Acacia koa) are a type of acacia that only grows in Hawaii. The tree reaches heights of approx. 15 - 25 meters, its wood is medium-hard, somewhat brittle and can nevertheless be worked very well. The golden-reddish to brown wood is used for many applications in Hawaii, from boat building to veneers, furniture, handicrafts and, above all, musical instruments. The wood enjoys an almost legendary reputation among guitar makers worldwide. Particularly beautifully figured koa has a striking grain that is highly prized. Koa has a long and significant role in the cultural heritage of Hawaii. The wood was so coveted even before 1900 that only a few wealthy rulers could afford to use it. A large magnificent staircase in the Iolani Palace in Honolulu, for example, is still a daily attraction. Although the wood is not rare or endangered, it is only by strictly protecting the natural seedlings against game browsing that enough trees grow back to meet the high demand for this expensive wood. As a result, this precious wood will remain a vital and thriving resource in Hawaii for generations to come.

Korina
Korina (Terminalia altissima) is a deciduous tree that grows in tropical Africa and develops huge, almost flawless trunks up to 30 meters long. The dark brown, almost black core that is so highly prized in this type of wood is very rare. As a wood for guitar bodies, black Korina has achieved an almost mythical status; Gibson used it to produce some very rare and now famous electric guitars in the late 1950s. But this medium-hard and heavy wood is also attractive for writing instruments.

Lacewood (Roupala cordifolia), also known as Louro Faia, is a medium-weight wood from South America with a unique, unmistakable structure: the surface resembles a three-dimensional pattern of pearls arranged in a row - hence the name. These 'pearls' are only visible in radial section, they are large medullary rays, comparable to the mirrors of oak - only much more beautiful and evenly arranged. The silvery pearls shine differently depending on the incidence of light and make the wood particularly attractive. The color of the wood is reddish-yellow, ages to a very beautiful red-orange-brown and is resistant to light. It is easy to work with and is unproblematic in every respect - even repeated oiling produces a beautiful silky sheen!

Laurel Burl, Chilean
Laurel (Laurelia aromatica) is an evergreen tree endemic to Chile that grows up to around 30 metres high in the rainforest. Its light-coloured and thick, shiny leathery leaves as well as the bark and the small yellow flowers play an important role in the medicine of the indigenous Incas. The many aromatic substances contained in these parts of the tree made them an effective medicine for headaches, but they are also used as a spice. The wood was named after the very pleasant aromatic scent produced by the many enclosed oil cells when processing the light and medium-hard wood. The sapwood is light grey to light olive, the heartwood is silver-grey when fresh, darkening to silvery-reddish brown. Working with this wood is a real pleasure due to its easy workability and pleasant fragrance!

Laurel, true
The true laurel (Laurus nobilis) is an evergreen shrub or tree that grows up to 7 metres high, can live for hundreds of years and is native to Greece, for example. The leaves have a strong aromatic odour and are known and used in almost every cuisine in the world. The trunk of the laurel tree usually has thin, smooth bark and rather unspectacular wood. Its colour is whitish-grey, often interspersed with grey or brownish shades.

Lignum Vitae
Lignum Vitae (Guaiacum officinale), also known as lignum vitae, guaiac wood, French wood or gajac, originates from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. The trees rarely reach diameters of more than 50 cm, so they tend to remain small. The color is yellowish-greenish-brown when freshly cut and takes on a deep green color when exposed to air; the sapwood remains yellowish. The wood is very hard and heavy (approx. 1,300 kg/m3), is easy to turn but difficult to plane. It is extremely resistant to wear, very resinous and dries slowly. Pockwood is mainly used for mechanically highly stressed parts, such as planer soles, gear wheels, ship shaft bearings, cone and bossel balls, which are self-lubricating due to the high oil and resin content of the wood. These ingredients also make pockwood a valued supplier of essences in medicine, and liqueur factories also process large quantities of pockwood shavings. The name pockwood is a reminder of its medicinal use: in the 17th century, it was believed to be able to cure smallpox!

Lilac
Lilac (Syringa vulgaris ) grows in our latitudes as an ornamental shrub, but rarely as a real tree with a trunk diameter worth mentioning. Originally from Persia, the lilac has spread far and wide since the 16th century due to its flowers, which range from white to deep purple, and its beguiling fragrance in spring. Its wood is one of the valuable 'native exotics', which shines with its great hardness, very beautiful violet-brown color against yellow sapwood and pleasant fragrance when worked. What is not so nice, however, is that lilac is almost always very prone to twisting and its wood almost always cracks badly during drying. Large, straight and crack-free pieces of lilac wood such as those offered below are therefore very rare!

Lime trees (Tilia spp.) are widespread throughout Europe. Despite their excellent properties (low shrinkage, warping, cracking, dimensional stability), their wood is rarely used; it is most valued by sculptors for its excellent carving properties. Burls are quite common on lime trees, but are not easy to work because of their softness. You will hardly find any other native wood with such a fine grain!
Naranjo, Nargusta, Sombrerete, Amarillo, Bullywood, Palo Prieto, Roble Coral, Canxan Negro: this tree (Terminalia amazonia) is known and used under many popular names in a large distribution area in Central and South America. Our wood comes from Guatemala. The sapwood is yellowish to orange, the heartwood light yellow-reddish, often with darker reddish or dark brown stripes, the color is reminiscent of orange (=Naranjo). The wood is hard and durable, of high quality and resistance. It is used to make furniture and cabinets, for barrels and doors, floor coverings, in shipbuilding as well as in exterior and interior fittings.

Macacauba- see Granadillo

Machiche
Machiche (Lonchocarpus castilloi) grows in almost the whole of tropical South America, but especially well in the Caribbean, in Yucatan (Mexico) and in Guatemala, where it is widespread in humid forests. It has many popular names in its growing areas: Machiche, Balche (Mexico), Chaperno (Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala), Guaimaro, Marajagua (Venezuela), Macaratu (Colombia), Sindjaple (Suriname), Haiari (Guyana), Barbasco (Peru), Imbira de sapo, Timbo (Brazil). In Europe it is marketed under the completely misleading name Caribbean Cherry - a typical euphemism of the timber trade. The hard and heavy wood (approx. 900 kg/m3) is red to coffee brown, the sapwood pale yellow to ochre in colour. The grain is homogeneous and plain, sometimes with black to golden-brown streaks running through it. The pores are medium-sized, the fibres predominantly straight. The wood is very durable and resists insect infestation very well. Machiche is used as construction timber, outdoor furniture, parquet, flooring, decking, turnery and in furniture making.

Madrona
Madrona burl (Arbutus menziesii) is the name given to the rarely occurring burl wood of a tree species which, like briar, belongs to the Ericaceae family and is also known as arbutus, manzanita or Pacific madrone in its native habitat on the west coast of North America. The burls of these bush-like trees, which sometimes grow up to 25 metres high in the north, usually develop at the base of the roots, so that the burls only grow half above the ground and therefore have to be painstakingly dug out. The usually very finely grained and beautifully swirly burl wood is very hard, fine-pored and has colours ranging from pale pink to pale red and brown and is somewhat reminiscent of apple wood. It is extremely difficult to dry burl wood, its tendency to warp and crack is feared everywhere - only long years of careful air drying can soothe this beautiful wood and make it usable for wood lovers.

Maple, Bird's Eye Maple
This maple (Acer sacchaurum) has the special feature of the bird's eye grain that gives it its name. The eye structure of the wood is caused by growth disorders of the cambium: as a result of the proliferation of dormant buds, pin knots are formed, which are overgrown again and thus produce this structure that has been valued in cabinetmaking for centuries.

Maple, Bird's eye Maple, tempered
toasted or tempered bird's eye maple (Acer sacchaurum) comes from the sugar maple tree in Canada and North America and is heat-treated wood after a complex process. Kiln-dried or roasted (torrefied) wood is deprived of moisture, oxygen and also tension in the structure by removing oxygen and simultaneously heating it to a very precise temperature. This dries the wood considerably, giving it greater strength, durability and an attractive cherry-like caramel color. Woods thermally treated in this way are light and sound excellent, as the ageing process of the wood is imitated. They are also much more dimensionally stable, as any warping that may have occurred during treatment has already taken place and the wood is now much more relaxed and stable. Bird's eye maple forms the bird's eyes that give it its name as a special feature in approx. 10 % of the trunks, and the eye structure is created by the growth of dormant buds. This is how pin knots are formed, which are overgrown again and thus produce this structure that has been valued in cabinetmaking for centuries.

Maple, Field Maple
The field maple (Acer campestre) is widespread throughout most of Europe; North America and West Africa are also its natural growing areas. It is a special feature among the maple trees: field maples, also known as "Maßholder", grow as solitary trees and often do not grow beyond shrub size, although they can live for 150 years. When they reach tree size, they produce a very beautiful wood: it is much harder, denser and finer grained than that of sycamore or Norway maple. The color of the wood is yellow-brownish to grey-brown, it shines and has a clearly recognizable, very fine grain, with very fine pores. Due to its fine structure, it is one of the most sought-after woods for woodturners and toy makers; it was used for bowls, dishes and cutlery. Pipe makers also like to use the wood of the field maple; the burls are particularly sought after for making pipes.

Maple, Sugar Maple
The wood of this tree (Acer saccharum), which originates from North-East America and Canada, is called hard maple in the USA because of its high hardness. It is really very hard, fine-pored and of a beautiful light creamy-white color. The sap is used to produce the well-known maple sugar syrup. The wood weighs approx. 750 kg/m3 and is used in many different ways for flooring, doors and windows. Hard maple is particularly interesting when it comes to beautiful grains: although this is only the case with approx. 5% of all logs, bar, shell or bird's eye maple can look all the more spectacular when used for expensive billiard cues, guitar necks, tops or bodies. The technical properties of hard maple are excellent, it is easy to work with and has outstanding durability.

Maple, Sycamore maple
The sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) is a tree that develops a very wide range of wood for the most diverse applications. The tree prefers to grow at high altitudes in Western Europe, but after being spread by humans it can also be found in the lowlands. The wood of the sycamore maple has been used by carpenters for many centuries for a wide variety of purposes in furniture making; the classic pub table, for example, is made from this beautiful light-colored wood. But maple wood is also highly valued by musical instrument makers, especially in its figured version, which is created by the wavy growth of the wood fibers.

Maple, curly maple
Curly maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) is a highly sought-after specialty of the sycamore maple grain. It is brought onto the market in small quantities from Bosnia, Scotland and southern Germany/Tyrol and has been highly prized by musical instrument makers for many centuries. The grain is created by a wavy course of the wood fibers in the longitudinal direction. It is THE classic wood for the finest violin backs and guitar tops, but it is also used for the finest work in cabinetmaking.

Maple, Norway maple
The Norway maple (Acer platanoides) is a very widespread tree from Central Europe to the Caucasus, which often manages to grow like a weed in the most impossible places in our cities, proving its above-average ability to survive. The trees are usually very large, 30 meters high is not uncommon. Maple wood is of high quality, it is used for almost every conceivable indoor purpose and has accompanied mankind for thousands of years. It is used in crafts for furniture, flooring and paneling, and spoons, cups, bowls, plates and chopping boards turned from maple wood are still used today as eating vessels and kitchen utensils. Its fine pores and light color make it particularly suitable for this use, as well as for fine measuring and drawing instruments and musical instruments.

Maple, Oregon maple, bigleaf maple,
Oregon maple, American maple are names for the wood of the big-leaved maple (Acer macrophyllum) that grows along the coast of western North America. The mighty trees grow large and can develop trunks up to 1.40 meters thick, they are fast-growing and have strikingly large, delicate and finely ribbed leaves that typically measure 35 x 25 cm. The wood of this giant tree is light, tending more towards reddish than all other maple woods and has a wide range of colors, which can range from yellowish light brown to pale pink to coral red, often also attractively grained with bubble or cloud patterns (quilted) or even finely grooved. Burls are often found on this tree, but unfortunately their usability for larger objects is severely limited by the fact that cavities and bark inclusions are very common

Mahogany, Honduras
Honduras mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) is also known as (South) American mahogany, comes from Central South America and is more than famous for its outstanding properties, which make it ideal for any purpose: its uses range from boats, furniture, windows and doors, panelling to musical instruments. Due to the high demand, there is hardly any "real" mahogany available today, little comes from plantations like this or (mostly inferior) substitute woods are offered, which are not real mahogany species such as Sipo, Sapeli, Khaya, Makoré or Tiama and Kosipo. Genuine mahogany is quite light (approx. 500 kg/m3) and yet very strong and extremely resistant, it has very good stability, hardly works or shrinks and is excellently suited as tonewood. The heartwood is yellow to reddish-brown, darkening strongly in the light.

Mahogany, Khaya
African Khaya mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) comes from the west coast of Africa and is usually exported in large, defect-free logs. In contrast to the genuine mahogany species from South America and the Caribbean (Swietenia spp), African mahogany such as Khaya has only been imported to Europe since around 1880. The overseas mahogany species, which had become rare due to overuse, were no longer available and a substitute was then found in Africa. The wood is of medium hardness and density, around 500 kg/m3 is typical, it has many very good properties such as high durability, good stability, low shrinkage, is quite fine-pored and also has a very attractive red-brown colour, which patinates through ageing and sunlight to a golden-brown-red deep ageing colour. An alternating twist often found in Khaya gives the wood a very contrasting appearance and a fine streaky lustre.

Mahogany, Sapeli
Sapeli mahogany Sapeli (Entandrophragma cylindricum) comes from the Meliaceae family and is therefore a mahogany wood. Sapeli mahogany grows on the equatorial west coast of Africa; Ghana and the Ivory Coast are typical growing areas. Sapeli is often confused with other mahogany species, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish it from other African mahogany species such as Sipo, Khaya and Kosipo. With an average height of around 45 metres and a trunk diameter of up to 1.50 metres, these trees can form very large trunks, which are usually of high quality as they are largely knot-free. The heartwood is light to brown-reddish, darkening strongly to a deep reddish brown and has a beautiful lustre and sheen. A frequently occurring interlocking grain makes the wood a highly sought-after interior wood, while its particularly beautiful grain makes it a highly sought-after decorative wood. Sapelima mahogany is medium-hard, has high strength and durability and is very easy to work. Its uses range from classic furniture wood to high-quality interior fittings, window and door frames, boat and yacht building and musical instruments.

Mahogany, Sipo
Sipo mahogany (Entandophragma utile) is a very high-quality and universally usable type of wood from West and Central Africa, which has gained a firm place among the top qualities in crafts and hobbies. The trees grow in West Africa and can become real giants, knot-free trunk lengths of 25 metres are not uncommon! The wood is medium hard, light reddish in colour and darkens to a deep reddish-brown, a very beautiful lustre effect accompanies this attractive wood.

Mahogany, West Indian, Cuban mahogany
Cuban mahogany (Swietenia mahogany) originates from the Caribbean and has been imported to Europe since around 1650 from the West Indies, the islands that Columbus found on his search for a new route to India. Also known as island mahogany, this is the only "real" mahogany, but the huge appreciation and demand have almost wiped this wood out. The wood of these trees comes from seedlings planted by the Dutch and British in British Guyana in the 19th century, which found ideal conditions not far from Cuba! The wood is incomparably beautiful in structure and colour, which, when exposed to light, takes on a fresh pink-red to deep dark red with an incredible lustre and play of light that has been highly valued for centuries. Typical are the fine white lime deposits in the pores, the alternating growth and a high specific weight: the wood weighs approx. 800 - 1000 kg /m3. A real rarity for the finest work! Also perfect for restoring antique furniture from the 18th/19th century!

Maidou
Maidou burl (Pterocarpus cambodianus), also known as golden Amboyna, mai pradoo, pradoo burl, is a close relative of the true Amboyna, which it closely resembles. The medium-sized tree grows in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and reaches a height of 15 to 20 metres. Only very rarely does the tree form the much sought-after burls on its trunk, making finely grained burl wood from this tree one of the most sought-after rarities in the trade. The colour spectrum of the heartwood ranges from golden yellow-reddish, bright orange to brick red, surrounded by clearly defined light grey to pale yellow sapwood. The wood is generally somewhat lighter and lighter in colour, but still has a much finer grain than its close relative Amboyna burl, which is why it is reserved for small and fine handicraft work. The fine burl wood is highly sought after for veneer production, it is considered equal to Amboyna and is rarely found on the market. Makamong
Makamong, Craib (Afzelia xylocarpa) originates from SE Asia, the trees are native to Laos, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam and Cambodia. The stately trees grow up to 300 years old and reach a height of around 30 metres with a maximum diameter of 2 metres. The wood of these trees is highly valued there, its hardness and durability are so great that it is used in a very wide range of applications from furniture making to flooring and house construction. The very dense, hard wood has an orange-reddish colour that ages to a warm, red-golden tone and is very similar to that of Amboyna. The burl wood of this tree is particularly attractive, although it is also very rare and is one of the absolute rarities with its intricate, wild grain.

Makassar - Ebony
Makassar (Diospyros celebica) is a striking brown and black striped ebony named after its main port of export on the island of Celebes (now Sulawesi) in eastern Indonesia. With its striped appearance, this extremely attractive and highly decorative wood is one of the colored ebony woods and is highly sought after for high-quality interior fittings and decorative arts. Its mechanical properties are very similar to those of black ebony, but it is many times rarer and therefore more expensive than black ebony - Makassar is currently one of the most expensive woods on the market. Makoré (Tieghemella heckelii) comes from West Africa, where the tree can reach a height of up to 50 meters. Its wood is reddish, usually somewhat lighter in color than the very similar mahogany, but harder and heavier than the latter. The heartwood is often streaked with clearly visible darker lines, while the sapwood is pale yellow. There are often individual, strikingly grained logs, whose wavy grain pattern and alternating twisted grain make them popular for veneer production. These grain figures are also known as moiré and pommelé.

Mallee, Brown
These burls come from the Brown Mallee (Eucalyptus dumosa) and show a very fine, flawless eye burl without the resin pocket holes otherwise typical of Eucalyptus burls. The color ranges from a light brown to intensely deep brown-yellowish tones, the grain is on a par with Amboina in its fineness. The wood is very fine-pored and dense and can be easily turned and worked with sharp tools. Finely sanded surfaces are very smooth and can be polished to a beautiful shine.
Mallee, Red
This burl wood comes from the Australian Red Mallee (Eucalyptus socialis) and has very fine, flawless eye burls without the large resin pocket holes that are otherwise almost always typical of eucalyptus burl. The unusually intense color ranges from pale red to truly fiery red, the grain is equal to Amboina in its fineness. The wood is very fine-pored, dense and hard and can be turned and worked well with sharp tools. Finely sanded surfaces are very smooth and can be polished to a beautiful shine. Tiny holes, as is usual with all eucalyptus woods, can easily be filled with a drop of superglue!

Mallee, Rib fruited
Rib Fruited Mallee burl wood (Eucalyptus corrugata ) comes from the Goldfield region of southwest Australia and comes from one of the approximately 700 eucalyptus species growing in Australia. These eucalypts typically develop strong burls, which are very popular with woodworkers because of their dense, hard and particularly beautiful wood with fine burl eyes and buds. The burl woods from the Goldfield region are difficult to distinguish from each other, so let's rely on the Australians who have harvested them, because they say: this is Rib Fruited Mallee!

Medang burl
Medang burl (Nothaphoebe spp.) is the name given to the burl wood of a group of around 20 woods from Southeast Asia that belong to the Lauraceae family. The trees grow in Borneo, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Many very different types of wood are grouped together in this group, so that the wood also has a very wide range of colors: possible colors range from a silvery light gray to golden yellow, light brown-gray to yellow-green and even shades of red. The weight varies between 400 and 850 kg/m3, so the wood is light and yet hard enough for almost all uses. Wood from the burls has a strikingly silky and warm sheen, which only gains its enormous visual depth and three-dimensional effect through surface treatment. Incredible 3D effects can be found in the burl wood!

Meranti, red
Red Meranti (Shorea spp.) comes from Malaysia and the Philippines, it is also called Red Lauan and belongs to a very large family of woods of the most diverse origin and appearance. The trade names of this family of woods are used chaotically and the qualities of these woods range from very light and rather inferior to hard and dense varieties like this one. The appearance of the wood is very homogeneous and not very structured, the grain is calm and streaky, with only a slight natural sheen. The heartwood of Red Meranti is pale pinkish-brown to reddish-brown. Darker qualities are generally harder, heavier and more resistant to weathering. Meranti is also euphemistically referred to as Philippine mahogany, but has nothing to do with the real mahogany of the Swietenia genus. Meranti wood is used in a variety of ways: for veneer and plywood production, in interior fittings and for furniture production, also for windows and doors.

Mesquite
Mesquite (Prosopis spp.) trees grow in the Sonoran, Chihuahua and Mojave deserts (Texas, New Mexico and Arizona). Only a few of the thorny shrubs reach tree size. The wood is also known as Texas ironwood, as its properties are very similar to desert ironwood. The color of the wood ranges from cream to yellow, with occasional yellow and orange tones giving the wood a marbled appearance. It is a very beautiful wood, the very rare burl wood of mesquite is particularly sought after. The wood is very heavy and durable: no fungi, termites or other insects can damage it. It was traditionally used for knife and pistol handles. Mesquite wood is easy to work with and can be given a beautiful shiny polish by very fine sanding. Burl wood is extremely rare.

Messmate Tallowwood, Gympie or Yellow Messmate: Australians have many names for this wood of a tree of the eucalyptus genus (Eucalyptus microcorys), it grows as a tree in the Gympie and Queensland region in northeastern Australia, where it reaches stately heights of up to 50 meters and diameters of 2 meters. Its wood has a yellow-brown color, appears a little waxy and is dense, hard and extremely durable. The tree plays a major role in Australia's timber production, the valuable wood is used for railroad sleepers, in mining, posts and squared timber. It is very resistant to decay caused by contact with the ground. These properties make Messmate an extremely useful wood for furniture, turnery and joinery as well as for the manufacture of keel and frame elements in vehicle and wagon construction. Gympie Messmate is often used as round timber for quay and bridge building, while sawn timber is used for house building. Cladding, flooring, fencing and most electricity pylons in South East Queensland are made from Gympie Messmate.

Mirabelle wood
The mirabelle tree (Prunus domestica ssp.syriaca) is a subspecies of the plum tree and has many regional names such as yellow plum, Kriecherl, Marabelone, Merbelane and Mirabatsch. The fruit that gives the tree its name, the Mirabelle, is an intense yellow color and is so abundant on well-tended trees when ripe that its bright yellow often outshines the green of the leaves! The rather small tree rarely grows taller than 5-8 meters and has only been introduced to Europe since the 18th century. The wood of the mirabelle tree is very colorful, the relationship with the plum tree is obvious: rather yellowish to dark red heartwood is set off against a very light, yellow sapwood, while the wood is very fine and dense, almost non-porous, as with all fruit woods and can be worked very well. Due to its rarity, the wood has no fixed areas of application, but it is ideal for fine and small-scale work.

Mopane
Mopane (Colophospermum mopane) is one of the hardest and densest woods in South Africa and is an excellent wood for wind instruments.

Mountain ash
The mountain ash or rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) is a widespread tree in Europe whose red fruits appearing in the fall give the tree a significant appearance. The wood is very fine-pored, hard and quite durable, the dark color core is strikingly set off against the light sapwood. With a dry weight of around 700-850 kg/m3, it is of medium weight and has always been in demand for fine woodturning and, for example, for making toys in the East-German Erzgebirge region.

Movingui (Distemonanthus benthamianus) is a wood from West Africa that immediately catches the eye with its fresh, almost lemon-yellow color. Because of its visual resemblance to real satinwood from the East Indies, it is often misleadingly referred to as African satinwood - but this is just wood merchant prose - it has absolutely nothing to do with satinwood. Typical for Movingui wood are sometimes irregularities in the structure, which are called moiré or friseè and are highly valued and sought-after specialties for veneer production. The wood is hard and strong, medium-weight at 600-800 kg/m3 and has good technical properties as well as a very attractive deep sheen after surface treatment: You will learn to love it!

Muiracatiara, Curupay (Astronium lecointei) grows in the tropical forests of South America from Mexico and southwards to Brazil. The trees grow to around 40 meters high and often reach more than 1 m in diameter. The heartwood is light orange, copper to reddish brown with irregularly distributed streaks of dark brown to black, darkening with age. The appearance is similar to that of fine mahogany, but it is significantly heavier and harder. The grain of the wood is generally straight, sometimes slightly wavy, it has a uniform structure with a natural sheen and fine pores. The dry weight is approx. 900 kg/m3 and, despite its high density, it is easy to work and produces very beautiful, smooth, deeply shimmering surfaces. Muiracatiara wood is used for flooring, veneers, furniture, interior fittings, turned objects and other small applications such as billiard cues, bows and knife handles.

Muirapixuna (Cassia scleroxylon) is a very hard and durable, almost black wood from the Amazon region of Brazil. In its homeland it is used for all kinds of purposes, from house construction, beams, floors and windows to wind instruments, furniture and in hydraulic engineering it has almost unlimited uses!

Mulberry wood
The mulberry tree (Morus nigra) originally comes from Asia, but can now be found throughout southern Europe. In the 17th century, mulberry trees were even imported to northern Europe and planted on a large scale; the leaves of the trees were intended to provide food for silkworms, which were being bred at the time. However, the trees turned out not to be durable for the northern countries and today they are a rarity in Germany. The wood is particularly tough and hard, very durable and strong and the heartwood has a uniquely beautiful golden yellow to light brown color. It was traditionally used to make barrels.

Musk burl (Olearia argophylla) comes from a small tree in Tasmania known as 'daisy bush', a flowering shrub or tree that can grow to a height of 5 to 10 meters. The dull green leaves with white undersides and the flowers smell slightly musky, the tree develops large inflorescences full of attractive, small cream-colored flowers in spring.
The wood of the "musk" tree is a beautiful creamy yellow to golden color, even green and brown shades occur. The coveted and attractive burl wood forms at the base of the trunk. The grain is uniquely beautiful, wild and swirly, fine eye burl alternates with pied and figured areas, and all almost flawless - a dream of a burl wood. The medium hard and heavy wood is a favorite of Australian woodturners and develops a pleasant aroma when turned. It is a hard-to-find rarity on the European market, but is already in great demand in its home country.

Myrtlewood
Myrtlewood (Umbellularia californica), also known as Pepperwood or Bay -Laurel, is a slow-growing evergreen tree of the laurel family (Lauraceae). The trees grow sparsely in southwest Oregon and northwest California, USA. The tree produces a hard wood that takes polish well, is dense, easy to work and shows a wide variety of beautiful colors that can range from blonde-yellow to black, with many shades of honey-yellow, brown, gray, red and green in between, with fine black lines and eyes. The burl wood is very rare, only a few trees form burls at all, so there are only small pieces of burl wood. As the tree grows very slowly, it takes centuries to reach a myrtle tree of a size worth felling.

Naranjo, Nargusta, Sombrerete, Amarillo, Bullywood, Palo Prieto, Roble Coral, Canxan Negro: this tree (Terminalia amazonia) is known and used under many popular names in a large distribution area in Central and South America. Our wood comes from Guatemala. The sapwood is yellowish to orange, the heartwood light yellow-reddish, often with darker reddish or dark brown stripes, the color is reminiscent of orange (=Naranjo). The wood is hard and durable, of high quality and resistance. It is used to make furniture and cabinets, for barrels and doors, floor coverings, in shipbuilding as well as in exterior and interior fittings.

Oak
The oak is a tree that is widespread throughout Europe; in Germany, sessile oak (Quercus petraea) and English oak (Quercus robur) are the most common deciduous trees of this genus. Oaks are a symbol of eternity and durability, they generally live to a very old age, just as their wood is one of the most durable and resistant woods and is therefore held in high esteem. Its wood is one of the highest quality and most valuable woods from domestic forestry. Oak wood is very hard and heavy and, apart from the sapwood, very durable, and is used in an extremely wide variety of ways for doors and windows, flooring and parquet flooring, as construction timber in house building, in hydraulic engineering and shipbuilding, for tools, barrels, mills and machinery. The somewhat softer sessile oak wood is also used for woodturning, sculpture and other arts and crafts, and is used as solid wood and processed into veneer for a wide variety of furniture. Its open-pored grain, which is interspersed with striking mirrors in the radial cut, has long ensured its ever-increasing popularity on the market. The rustic appearance of oak wood, even when interspersed with coarse knots, is enjoying ever-increasing popularity as a contrast to the boring, perfected veneered furniture surfaces at the end of the 20th century.

Oak, smoked oak
Smoked oak (Quercus robur) looks very similar to bog oak, which is why we have placed this wood in this category. Smoked oak is produced in an industrial process using ammonia, which reacts under high temperature and pressure with the tannic acids naturally occurring in oak wood, causing this color change. The coloration penetrates even thick wood to the core and is absolutely permanent, very similar to the natural process that takes place under water over thousands of years, in which the tannic acids of the oak are also converted into coloring substances. The advantage of smoked oak is the high quality of the wood, the annoying cracks of bog oak and the strong degradation of wood substance with rotting spots or partial cell degradation with reduced strength are completely absent here.

Oak, bog oak
Bog oak (Quercus robur) is not a special type of wood, but is formed from dead oak trunks that have lain under water after dying in bogs and swamps. These do not rot in the absence of oxygen, but discolor over centuries and thousands of years from light grey to dark brown, blue-grey to deep black. Tannic acid in the oak wood reacts with iron ions in the groundwater, which strongly discolors the wood. The age of such subfossil oaks is between 500 and approx. 5000 years. The major problem with bog oak is drying: this is extremely tricky and almost always involves cracking. Dry, crack-free bog oak is very rare and therefore very expensive. Therefore, bog oak is only suitable for small, high-quality cabinetmaking projects.

Olive Wood
The olive tree (Olea europaea) is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the Mediterranean region: it thrives wherever there are no extreme climatic fluctuations or frost and can live for thousands of years. The wood is certainly one of the most beautiful woods of all and is characterized by an incredible variety. The sapwood is often light golden yellow, the heartwood is yellow-grey to salmon-colored, often interspersed with dark olive-brown stripes. The grain of very old trees is truly spectacular, wildly grooved and difficult to describe in words. The wood on the market is obtained from olive trees that are up to 500 years old and no longer bear olives, which have very good wood quality and a particularly beautiful structure. As olive trees grow very slowly, their wood is particularly hard and dense, but unfortunately also only available in limited quantities, partly due to its extremely slow drying process, which often takes 10 years or more. Despite its hardness, the wood is excellent to work with, it is easy to cut and even good for carving, and the aroma of the ingredients produced during processing is a very special experience.

Orange Wood
Orange wood comes from the orange tree (Citrus x sinensis), which has spread almost all over the world. Its origins lie in South East Asia, the trees became very popular due to their exotic edible fruit and were distributed by traders in ancient times to all countries where they found suitable climatic conditions. The wood of the orange trees is dense, fine and hard and has a very bright yellow to creamy white color. The trees have a very characteristic thin bark, which is only about 1-2 mm thick. The bark itself looks cracked and fissured.

Padauk, African
African padauk (Pterocarpus soyauxii), also known as coralwood, is a very hard, dense and pleasant-sounding wood, mainly from Cameroon, West Africa, which stands out due to its unusual color: when freshly cut, padouk has a bright and brightly shining orange-red intense color, which turns into a very beautiful dark orange-brown after aging! The unusually bright sound of the wood is the reason for its versatile use in upmarket musical instrument making; its visual attractiveness (best protected against bleaching UV radiation with a light-protective varnish) does the rest to make this beautiful wood a classic for woodturners and musical instrument makers.

Padauk, Burma
Burmese padauk (Pterocarpus macrocarpus), also known as Burmese padouk or mai-pradoo, grows in Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and Vietnam and is closely related to African padauk, which is well known in Germany for its bright red color. It is a heavy and hard wood, weighs approx. 900 kg/m3 and is highly valued in its home countries for its universally good properties. It is rather fine-pored and straight-grained, the wood is pale reddish salmon to dark brick red, often interspersed with dark brown stripes, generally less intense in color than African padauk. When fresh wood is processed, it produces a pleasantly sweet and very strong aromatic scent. Burma padauk is used for interior and exterior fittings and construction wood, for boat building, in construction for frames, as parquetry flooring, in fine furniture making and for musical instruments.

Palm, red
Red palm wood, also known as palmira, comes from several palm species, but often from the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) and is traded from South East Asia. The wood is very hard, rather brittle and yellow-reddish in color, with darker red to almost black stripes as the grain. Only narrow segments of the outer trunk are traded as palm wood, the inner 'heartwood' is soft and cannot be used. The structure of palm wood is completely different to that of normal wood, the end grain looks particularly interesting! In the Art Deco era, such unusual woods were used to make extremely exclusive furniture!

Palm, black
Black palm wood comes from the Borassus or Palmira palm (Borassus flabellifer) from India and South East Asia. The wood of this palm tree, which can grow up to around 30 meters tall, is very hard and heavy and consists of almost black, short bundles of fibres that look like black toothpicks embedded in a lighter, softer, foam-like mass that ranges from brown to grey. As the trunk of palm trees does not form a hard core as is usual with trees, but instead the hardness and density decreases from the outer layer inwards, only the outermost hard ring area of the trunks can be processed. This means that the available cross-sections are very limited. In the Art Deco era, unique and extremely valuable furniture was veneered with end-grain veneers; the veneer was cut from such logs with a circular saw like slices from a salami. Beautiful, e.g. for picture frames and small objects!

Partridge wood (Caesalpinia granadillo), also known as coffeewood, cochineal and partridge wood, is a very hard and durable wood from South America (Venezuela and Colombia) with yellow-white sapwood and dark red to dark brown, almost black heartwood. The structure of the wood is determined by very fine, light-colored parenchyma bands, which give it an unmistakable appearance and the fineness and pattern of the grain is very similar to the plumage of a partridge, hence the name partridge wood. The wood is quite rare to find, very easy to work with and ideal for all fine small jobs!

Pau Rosa means rosewood in Portuguese, but this type of wood (Swartzia fistuloides, syn.: Bobgunnia fistuloides, B. madagascariensis) is no rosewood, as the name suggests. Rather, its often pinkish-red color and great hardness may have given it this descriptive, popular trade name. The tree grows sporadically in the south-east African rainforests of Mozambique, where it reaches impressive heights of around 30 meters and up to 1.10 m in diameter. The wood of Pau Rosa is very hard, very dense and heavy (approx. 1100 kg/m3) and is very weather-resistant. Due to its hardness, machining is only advisable with very sharp tools, but the results are very good! The sapwood is pale yellowish, the heartwood pink, brown-red to dark brown-purple, vividly striped and often alternately grained, with very fine pores and often covered with a translucent yellow sheen. Its uses are very diverse, ranging from veneer and carvings to furniture, turned objects and musical instruments.

Pau Santo (Zollernia paraensis) has many trade names such as Brazilian blackheart, Brazilian Ebony, Enemy, Coracao de negro, Palo Santo (Spanish) and comes from northeast Brazil (Para), where it grows sporadically as a smaller tree 20 to 25 meters high and up to 50 cm in diameter. The wood is very hard and heavy, the specific weight is 1.30. Freshly cut wood has a yellow-brown, also greenish color, which turns into a dark brown to almost black, the sapwood, on the other hand, has a contrasting yellowish color. Pau Santo is very similar to lignum vitae in terms of density, hardness and feel; like lignum vitae it has a waxy, greasy feel, but is not related to it.

Pear
The wood of the pear tree (Pyrus communis) is considered by many connoisseurs to be the most beautiful native wood; hardly any other variety has so many facets and such a friendly light color. The trees grow throughout Central Europe and reach considerable dimensions, lengths of 15 meters and thicknesses of 80-90 cm are not uncommon. The high density and extremely smooth surface of pear wood make it a real pleasure to work with, and it is also very easy to carve. It can be polished and waxed excellently; stained black, it was the 'German ebony' for a long time. The color is a beautiful golden-yellow light brown and bright when unsteamed; when steamed, the wood takes on the more familiar reddish color. There is often a growth of bars, flaming, pith spots or a beautiful purple-blackish false core!

Peroba Rosa, (Aspidosperma polyneuron) is the name given to the wood of a tree that grows in southern Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina and is also known as palo rosa, peroba-miúda or peroba amargosa in the area where it grows. The tree grows large, with stately specimens reaching around 35 meters in height and often 1.50 m in diameter. The wood of these trees is very hard, heavy (approx. 800-900 kg/m3) and dense, yet practically non-porous, fine and even, strongly reminiscent of the native pear tree. The color of the heartwood ranges from yellow to pinkish red, sometimes interspersed with darker streaks of purple or light brown. The yellow sapwood is not sharply delineated from the heartwood and the color darkens with age. The old Dutch name ‘Zalmhout’ refers to the salmon-colored, pinkish-red coloring of the wood, often the color actually resembles that of salmon flesh. Stairs, paneling, turnery, moldings: in its natural growth area, the wood is often used to build houses, as its durability is high. But it is almost too good for this in Europe, the fine wood is easy to work with, has an extremely friendly warm light color and is known for its wide range of applications.

Persimmon, (Diospyros virginiana) is a tree that belongs to the ebony family and is native to the eastern and central USA. Its fruit, which is known as persimmon, persimmon or persimmon, has given the tree a wide distribution and is now cultivated wherever possible. The trees grow to a height of around 20 meters, while the trunks remain rather thin at around 30 cm in diameter. The wood of the persimmon is highly prized, it is hard, very dense, fine-pored and firm. The color of the trunk, which consists almost exclusively of sapwood, is creamy white-yellowish, very quickly turning blue-greyish when attacked by fungi, and the heartwood, which only develops after approx. 100 years, turns dark brown to black, but always remains tiny in comparison to the broad sapwood. Due to its high hardness, white ebony is used for hammers, mallets, drumsticks, bows, billiard cues, flutes and, of course, the classic woods of a golfer, which were only replaced by metal from the 1970s onwards.

Peppermint tree
The peppermint tree (Agonis flexuosa) grows on the west coast of Australia, where it is also known as Kiddifidla or weeping willow myrtle because of its decoratively drooping leaves and branches. It got its name from the essential oil content of its leaves, which give off a strong, peppermint-like scent when rubbed. The Aborigines used this scent to give children relief from colds and respiratory illnesses. The evergreen tree is covered with countless small white flowers when it blossoms in September to October, its leaves are long and narrow like a lancet and the tree is very widespread in Western Australia because of its decorative appearance. The wood of the tree, which only grows to around 10 meters tall, is very hard and dense, heavy and pale pink in color. The burls that develop on some trees have a flawless burl wood with very fine whorls, burl eyes and a wild structure. The wood can be used for all kinds of purposes, the fine burl wood is of course particularly beautiful for turned objects.

Plum tree
The native plum tree (Prunus domestica) originally comes from the Orient, grows everywhere in Central and Southern Europe and is often cultivated in Germany for its fruit. However, it is not only the culinary side with jams, plum water and dumpling fillings that most people are familiar with that is remarkable: the dense, hard and relatively heavy wood has a light yellowish sapwood, while the heartwood is reddish-brown to slightly purple in color. With age, it takes on a beautiful deep dark red tone that is often almost indistinguishable from mahogany. The wood is often used to make bungs, wind instruments, knife handles and fine jewelry. It is also used in furniture making as a veneer and rarely as a solid wood due to its unusual color for native woods. Pink Ivory is the name given to the wood of a tree (Rhamnus zeyheri) that only grows in southern Africa (Zimbabwe, Mozambique, eastern South Africa) because of its unique pink color. The great hardness and density of the wood have earned it the name ‘pink ivory’. The wood is very rare, as the tree species, which is protected in South Africa, can only be felled with special permission. According to historic reports, only the chief and his sons were allowed to possess this wood; all others (including foreigners) are said to have been punished with death for breaking this rule. Today, possession of this wood is far less dangerous, but because of its rarity, royal prices are still demanded and paid for it!

Pistachio, Atlantic
The Atlantic pistachio (Pistacia atlantica) is also known as the mastic tree or terebinth and is native to Eurasia and widespread in the Mediterranean region, although it is not very common. The rather small tree is usually only 5 meters tall, rarely reaching 8-10 meters, and looks more like a large shrub than a tree. In contrast to the well-known fruit of the true pistachio tree, this species has rather small and oil-rich red fruits, which are used to produce oil and turpentine balm. The resin of the pistachio can be used as a varnish or glue, but is no longer of commercial importance today. Rootstocks of this species are often grafted with scions of the true pistachio, which then bear the 2 - 3 cm large edible fruit. The wood of the Atlantic pistachio is very hard, durable and was so highly valued in ancient times for its good properties that large stocks were often destroyed by ruthless felling.

Plane, London plane
The common or maple-leaved plane tree (Platanus x hispanica) is a mighty tree reaching up to 30 meters in height, which probably originated from a cross between the Oriental and the Occidental plane tree. The plane tree is a very popular and widespread avenue tree throughout Europe due to its tolerance to car exhaust fumes. In old age, the tree develops wide spreading branches on a relatively short, sturdy trunk, which is a striking sight with its characteristically smooth, gray to greenish-white bark that flakes off in large plates. The young leaves are covered in very fine hairs, but lose these with age and acquire a very shiny, smooth surface. The fruits are characteristic, round spherical, spiky nut-like fruits on long soft stems. The wood of the plane tree is suitable for almost all types of work, but is rarely used for barrels, carpentry, interior fittings and woodturning. A very characteristic feature is the shiny mirror visible through numerous medullary rays in the radial cut, which give the wood a beautiful structure.

Primavera, Tabebuia, Gold Tree, Palo Blanco (Tabebuia donnell-smithii), there are many names for this wood, which is also known as golden mahogany. The tree grows in Mexico and Nicaragua, but can also be found in Hawaii. The tree was often planted in Central America to provide shade on coffee plantations to give the coffee plants some protection against the relentless sun. The trees reach a height of 10 to 15 meters, the flowers are bright yellow and bloom for almost 2 months in spring while the tree is still completely bare of leaves. Due to the strong sheen, the wood looks like a light yellow satin fabric, it can also be reminiscent of faded mahogany. The color ranges from light cream to golden yellow, often interspersed with a hint of red. The wood is very easy to work, is medium hard and polishes well.

Pyinma wood
Pyinma wood comes from Southeast Asia, in this case from Laos. The tree (Lagerstroemia balansae) grows to 15-20 meters tall and up to 1 meter thick, is covered with an incredible splendour of lavender-coloured flowers when in bloom and is therefore cultivated worldwide as an ornamental tree wherever the climate allows it to grow. The wood is known by countless regional names and is also called Tabek, Bang Lang, Bungor. Its biological genus name Lagerstroemia was given to the tree by Linnè in honor of the Swede Magnus Lagerström who, as director of the Swedish East India Company, brought many samples of unknown plants to Europe on his trading ships. The wood of this exotic tree is of medium weight (approx. 600 kg/m3) and medium hardness, the color spectrum can range from golden yellow to reddish-brown to pale brown, the wood is strikingly often heavily figured or grained, in these cases it shows a beautiful lustrous sheen. The heavily grained wood is often misleadingly referred to as Asian satinwood, no doubt due to its silky sheen. The uses of this wood are almost limitless, ranging from construction timber, beams, windows, vehicles, flooring and boats to the finest furniture and arts and crafts!

Quince wood
The quince tree (Cydonia oblonga) is a pome fruit plant and originates from the Caucasus. It is widely cultivated in southern Europe and also grows wild here. Cultivated as a tree-like shrub, the quince also grows in Germany in sheltered locations and can reach up to 4-5 meters in height. Quince wood is light white-yellowish, tough and dense, with little grain, but is very hard and resistant, easy to work and similar in its properties to other fruit woods. Due to the very limited supply, quince wood is very rarely used, but its high hardness makes it suitable for almost all demanding work! The hard, white-yellowish, tough, firm and dense wood is rarely used. The apple-shaped, hairy yellow fruits are rich in pectin and are eaten preserved or cooked (quince bread).

Redthorn
The redthorn (Crataegus laevigata) is often planted as a street tree or ornamental shrub, and its bright crimson flowers in spring make it an attractive sight. Although the tree usually does not grow taller than approx. 3 meters, it can reach up to 10 meters. The wood, with its typical pith spots, is very hard and dense, uniformly white, and only rarely does a colored core develop with age. Due to the tree's small diameter, its wood is used for small jobs as carving or turning wood. It is still often used today for tools such as planes and tool handles.

Rosewoods:

Rosewood, Amazon rosewood
(Dalbergia spruceana) from Brazil is often very similar in appearance to the legendary Rio rosewood and is also very close to it in its other characteristics. It is very heavy, approx. 900 kg/t and can have an extremely wide range of appearance: from deep dark brown, black veined to bluish violet to green-brown, even yellowish colors, pretty much anything can occur. It is easy to work with, very durable (like all types of rosewood) and a classic for sophisticated woodwork. Rosewood, Bois de Rose, (Dalbergia maritima) grows on Madagascar and neighboring islands and is rarely found commercially. In contrast to D. baronii, it is very dark in color, ranging from a dark burgundy red to a bluish dark purple to almost black with black streaks, the wood darkens to almost black under the influence of light and retains a dark purple deep shimmer. Like all genuine rosewoods, it has excellent tonal properties for the construction of musical instruments and is very easy to work. This wood is also said to have the most pleasant smell of all rosewood varieties,

Rosewood, Bolivian rosewood, Pau Ferro, Santos rosewood Pau Ferro or Bolivian rosewood (Machaerium scleroxylon) is not actually one of the true rosewood species (Dalbergia spp), but is so similar to them that a distinction is often no longer made. The wood comes from South America (Bolivia, Brazil) and is a densely grown, very heavy wood with excellent machining properties. The heartwood is reddish dark brown to almost black-violet with a black, irregular grain. The tiny pores make it very easy to polish and refine, and the wood is an absolute attraction with its lustre and fine structure when glossy varnished! The wood was introduced to the market as a substitute after the export ban on Rio rosewood, but has long since established its own place in high-quality furniture, interior fittings, knife handles and guitars.

Rosewood, Honduras
Rosewood, Honduras rosewood (Dalbergia stevensonii) grows in Honduras, Central America and, like all genuine rosewoods, has a distinctly decorative color and structure in addition to great hardness and high weight. Honduras rosewood initially has a rather light, pinkish-red color, which darkens strongly with age to a blue-brown to violet base tone, which is beautifully structured by almost black veins. This wood is often used for musical instruments such as guitars and xylophones due to its excellent sound properties. Burls on rosewood trees are a great rarity; among hundreds of trees, there is often only one trunk that has formed this unique freak of nature. The wood is simply spectacular, with a deep glowing red to violet-fire red color and a uniquely beautiful and fine structure with the finest eyes, swirls and intergrowths.

Rosewood, Madagascar rosewood
(Dalbergia baronii) grows on the eastern and coastal areas of the subtropical island. The trees grow to a height of 12 to 14 meters and can reach a diameter of 60 to 80 cm. The wood of this rosewood species comes very close to the legendary Rio rosewood in terms of its good sound properties and its appearance; it often has the same spider-web-like grain with black veins that appear to run into or under each other. Its very good sound characteristics make it a highly prized wood for instruments, but it is very rare to find in the European trade.

Rosewood, Madagascar rosewood
(Dalbergia greveana) grows endemically on this island and is a visually very attractive and sought-after type of wood for making stringed instruments. The relatively narrow sapwood is light gray-white in contrast to the light brown to dark brown, depending on the species, also black-violet heartwood. The wood shows a more or less intensively developed veining with reddish to black color stripes and is visually very similar to Rio rosewood, which has not been available for a long time. Due to overexploitation, the stock of this wood is now protected in Madagascar and exports are prohibited.

Rosewood, Brazilian rosewood
(Dalbergia nigra) got its name after the main export port in Brazil, is also called Bahia rosewood or Jacaranda. It has been one of the most beautiful and expensive woods in the world for centuries, which almost led to its extinction. The wood is hard and heavy, colored reddish-brown to violet to almost completely black (D. nigra!) and grained with very expressive black overlapping lines, which often look almost unnatural like paintings. Rio rosewood has a characteristic rose scent, hence the English name "rosewood". Used in guitar making, there is probably no other wood with such sound characteristics for guitars! As there is an export ban, only old stocks are still available!

Rosewood, Sheesham (Dalbergia sissoo) was originally native to the entire Indian subcontinent, where it is known under many names such as Sissoo, Sisu, Shisham or Tahli as Indian rosewood, but it should not be confused with the purple-brown East Indian rosewood Dalbergia latifolia. This valuable wood is extremely popular, but there are hardly any older specimens left in the wild. The very fast-growing tree (approx. 5 m high in 3 years) is now grown on huge plantations in northern India and Pakistan, where there are over 100,000 hectares of plantations to meet demand. However, the trunks remain very thin, approx. 30 cm are already considered suitable for felling. Almost all the wood that is processed into cheap solid wood furniture for export comes from these huge plantations in the Punjab. The wood of sheesham is hard and heavy like all rosewoods, its color ranges from warm golden tones to reddish-brown to chestnut-brown colors, beautifully contrasted against the creamy white-yellow of the sapwood. This is almost always stained to match the heartwood. It is ideal for furniture, it dries without warping or cracking, is easy to polish and has a beautiful surface.

Rosewood, Sonokeling, Java rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia) is cultivated in Indonesia and Java. Biologically, it is exactly the same wood as East Indian rosewood. As the original East Indian rosewood has always been quite rare, the Dutch established plantations on Java as early as the 18th century. Due to the different growing conditions, it differs in color from East Indian rosewood. The hard heartwood is brown to dark brown, it can also have purple or green shades, streaked with dark veins and regularly striped, very decorative. The smell is sour and aromatic when fresh. Applications include high-quality interior work, furniture and guitar backs.

Rosewood, East Indian
East Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia), also known as Malabar or Bombay blackwood, grows in Sri Lanka and the East Indies. The hard, durable heartwood with little shrinkage is dark purple, brown to violet, streaked with dark veins and regularly striped, very decorative. When fresh, the smell is tart and aromatic. It is used for high-quality interior work, furniture and as special wood for musical instruments. For guitar backs, sides and fingerboards, it has been the wood of choice for instrument makers for 50 years. Rosewood, Siamese (Ching Chan) Siamese rosewood (Dalbergia bariensis), also known as Thai rosewood, Burmese rosewood or Ching Chan, grows in South East Asia and is a highly sought-after wood there due to its attractive color and quality. The wood color is typically intense red with deep black streaks, the wood is very hard and has all the good properties of the better-known rosewoods. It is rarely imported to Germany and is certainly one of the rarer woods here!

Russian Olive, Silver berry, Oleaster
The (narrow-leaved) willow (Elaeagnus angustifolia) is a small, thorny tree that originated in Central Asia and was introduced to southern Europe in the 17th century. Since the 18th century, the willow has been represented here as a decorative ornamental shrub. Due to its perennial properties, it is widely used as an urban tree, e.g. in Berlin, but there are also numerous wild specimens. The name of the olive willow reflects the similarity of the light gray elongated fruits and the striking silvery light foliage with those of the true olive tree. Particularly striking are the tiny yellow flowers, which have a very intense vanilla-like, beguilingly sweet scent even at night, making the tree a very popular bee pasture during its flowering period in May and June. The wood of the tree is hard, light to dark brown at the core and surrounded by light yellow sapwood. Due to its rarity, the wood is still largely unknown, but it can be worked as normal!

Salmon gum
Eucalyptus salmonophloia, commonly known as Salmon Gum, Wurak or Weerluk, is a small to medium sized tree native to Western Australia. The trunk has smooth bark, the leaves are narrow and lance-shaped, the flower buds are in clusters of flowers, these are small and creamy white, they ripen into hemispherical fruits. In the 19th century, salmon gum was widely used in the development of the goldfields on the west coast, as the wood is known for its high durability, which is why it is still used today for the manufacture of railroad sleepers and supports in mining, among other things. The density of green wood is about 1150 kg/m3, the air-dried density about 1000 kg/m3. This high density makes it the second strongest wood in Australia and is ideal as firewood. Eucalyptus salmonophloia is also ideal for reforestation areas and soil stabilization, as the tree is drought-tolerant, frost-resistant, fast-growing and able to grow on nutrient-poor soils. The heartwood of the tree is finely structured, very dense and hard, it has a reddish to dark reddish-brown color and is used for high-quality furniture, flooring, paneling, handicrafts and musical instruments such as flutes. The wood is also suitable for woodturning. Salmon gum burls often have many small resin pockets, which can make turned objects into very attractive works of art.

Sassafras trees (Atherosperma moschatum) grow in moist evergreen forests in southern Australia and Tasmania. It is also known there as Southern, Tasmanian or Blackheart Sassafras, the latter in particular when the heartwood has turned black due to fungal attack. The wood is relatively hard, not too heavy at approx. 600 kg/m3 and is very easy to work. Its color is originally whitish, pale yellow to silky gray shiny and develops after a fungal attack on the living tree striking black to dark brown, sometimes greenish streaked heartwood, which is highly sought after and coveted for its unique play of colors. The wood is highly valued for all kinds of applications in interior design, furniture, musical instruments, woodturning and handicrafts.

Satinwood, East Indian
East Indian satinwood (Chloroxylon swietenia) is also known as lemonwood, atlaswood or silkwood. The tree grows in Sri Lanka and the Near East and does not reach large diameters and trunk lengths. The wood is a beautiful intense yellow color and has a truly unique shimmering, silky sheen up close, which is reminiscent of the iridescence of expensive silk fabrics and certainly gave it its name. Contrary to popular belief, satinwood has nothing whatsoever to do with citrus trees; it was only the yellow color that gave the wood its misleading name of lemonwood. The use of this precious wood was traditionally reserved for small handcrafted wooden objects known as gallantry goods, such as glove boxes, brush backs and turnery. Around 1905, Bruno Paul furnished an entire room with it, the unique and famous lemon (wood) room at Faber-Castell Castle in Stein near Nuremberg.

Satinwood, West Indian
West Indian satinwood (Zanthoxylum flavum) is also called Jamaican satinwood tree, San Domingo satinwood and is a tree that grows in the Caribbean and is only about 10 meters high and whose usual diameter of about 40-50 cm is rather small. Its light yellow, fine-pored, golden-yellow wood is all the more beautiful, showing a very interesting flamed or wavy grain that resembles the ripples of a silk fabric due to its alternating twisted growth on quarter-sawn surfaces, giving it the name satinwood. The wood is also finely and evenly textured and has a beautiful natural sheen. The wood produces a very pleasant lemony to coconut-like scent during processing. West Indian satinwood has been virtually unavailable in its natural growing area for a long time, as the stocks of this attractive wood could only be covered by radical deforestation during the 18th century due to the high appreciation and demand for light, golden shimmering furniture during the classical period. After these stocks in the Caribbean were cut down, a worldwide search was made for a substitute wood and finally the East India Company found the East Indian satinwood (Chloroxylon swietenia), which is known everywhere today and has since been regarded as the only genuine satinwood, although this was only a substitute for the vanished West Indian wood.

Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is a shrub-like tree of the willow family, which can reach up to 6 meters in height under good growing conditions. Originally native to Nepal, sea buckthorn is widespread in almost all of Europe, with a clear focus on coasts and riverbanks. The intensely orange-colored fruits are used in a variety of ways, but the wood of the sea buckthorn is also sought after because, in addition to its beautiful color with yellowish sapwood and vivid brown core color, it has good properties for processing: the wood is durable, fine-pored, vividly grained and easy to work with.

Service tree, Speierling The wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis) is a slow-growing tree that is widespread throughout Europe, but occurs very sporadically in light deciduous forests. Its wood is of exceptionally fine quality, very hard, tough and dense, dimensionally stable, firm and non-porous, so that it was traditionally used for measuring and drawing instruments, machine parts and musical instruments. Cabinet makers and wood turners value this wood for its warm, appealing color and excellent workability; furnishings made of this wood are certainly among the most beautiful furnishings. The wood has a natural light yellow to slightly reddish color, often described as skin-colored, which has a silky shimmer and a very warm appearance, but in most cases the wood is steamed, giving it a warm medium to dark reddish color very similar to that of the pear tree. The curly trunks of wild service trees are particularly decorative, and the formation of a dark brown to almost black false core also makes the wood a special feature. Unfortunately, the steamed wood of the wild service tree is still misleadingly referred to in the trade as Swiss pear wood, although it is neither pear wood nor does it come from Switzerland.

Serpent Wood (Marmoroxylon racemosum), also known as Zebrawood, Marblewood or Angelim Rajado, is the name given to this wood from the north coast of South America, which comes from Guyana and Surinam. In order to avoid confusion between the German name Schlangenholz and Piratinera guianensis, which has exactly the same name, I have retained the English name. The tree grows sporadically in the jungle and is not very common, so exports are rather low. Serpent wood has a yellowish to brownish-yellow basic color with large vascular bundles like palm wood, which is marbled with very decorative, irregular brown-black stripes. The wood is very heavy and hard and is used for fine turnery, knife handles and other fine work.

She-oak
She-oak (Allocasuarina fraseriana) is also known as cris-cros oak, Australian desert oak or lacy sheoak. Sheoak is a widespread tree species and is mainly found in eucalyptus and banksia forests in the province of Victoria in western Australia. The wood of this tree has a certain resemblance to European oak, but is in no way related to it. The heartwood of this tree, which grows to a height of around 15 m, is very hard and has a beautiful woven structure, the color is dark brown to reddish. It is a very attractively grained hardwood and represents a special feature in the wood structure, whose fine and almost unique grain creates very interesting design possibilities for knife makers (especially beautiful in combination with a Damascus steel blade). But of course this unique structure is also beautifully accentuated in turned objects such as bowls, vases and writing instruments such as pens, pens and pencils.

Sindora, Sepetir
(Sindora siamensis, Sindora cochinchinensis) is a large evergreen tree that can be found very sporadically in the semi-wild, tropical forests of Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Laos. The valuable and locally highly sought-after wood is hard and durable, termite-resistant and is used for building houses, ships, veneers, furniture and agricultural equipment, as well as for firewood. The very rarely occurring burls have a gnarled and strongly grained wood with a variety of brown, golden and reddish colors, the burl wood of these trees is spectacularly beautiful and wildly grained, often several colors occur in these burls at the same time. The sapwood of Sindora is cream to pink, while the heartwood is yellow when freshly cut, but turns orange to reddish-brown after ageing and exposure to light. The wood is easy to turn and easy to process.

Snakewood (Piratinera guianensis) is one of the most fascinating woods from the north coast of South America. The tree grows in Guyana and Surinam, and is also found in northern Brazil. The main port of export is Paramaribo in Suriname. The tree is rarely cut thicker than 15-20 cm, older trunks are often simply grained on the inside and are not valued nearly as highly as the perfectly snakeskin-like spotted specimens. The name of the wood always refers to this eye-catching structure, also known as leopardwood by the English (letterwood) and French (bois de lettre) because of the grain, which is reminiscent of illegible letters. The wood is extremely hard, heavy and dense, reddish-brown in color and ideally evenly streaked with almost black, radial dark spots. Snakewood is a very expensive and difficult wood to obtain in good quality. Unfortunately, its strong tendency to crack and its often non-existent spotty grain make the procurement of very good pieces a real problem given the high price and high demand. However, the result of working with this beautiful wood is always worth the effort; there is simply no comparable wood for fine knife handles, billiard cues, bows and walking sticks.

Smoke Tree
Smoke tree bushes (Cotinus coggygria) grow in Germany as a guest from southern countries in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East as well as northern China as a decorative ornamental shrub because of its conspicuously wig-like shaped woolly fruit clusters. The wood contains intensely yellow coloring substances, which is how it got its name. The name fiset wood or Hungarian yellow wood for the wood of the trunk, which is rarely large and thicker than 10-15 cm, also refers to its use as a dye. The wood is also an intense golden yellow and at first glance resembles that of the deer butt sumac (vinegar tree), but is more yellowish than this. The wood is hard and resistant and is a sought-after rarity due to its rarity, especially as the growth rarely produces trunk diameters worth mentioning.

Snowball tree
The common snowball (Viburnum lantana) was also known as the water viburnum. It grows in hedges and gardens, rarely reaching heights of over 2-3 meters. The shrub has five-lobed, sharp-toothed, thick velvety leaves and bears flat, corymbose flowers and red berries that remain on the shrub throughout the winter. The wood is long-fibered, hard, tough and difficult to split; it is easy to cut and turn, but difficult to plane due to its cracking. It is used to make sticks, pipe pipes, shoe nails and heels. The annual rings and medullary rays of the wood are indistinct; the pith is white and fairly thick. The sapwood of older snowball trees is broad, light yellow or reddish, the core is brownish, the wood smells unpleasant when fresh. The wood of the viburnum or woolly snowball (Viburnum lantana) with egg-shaped, woolly leaves is more greenish-white, later reddish-brown, not very dense, but hard, firm and flexible, it can be used for small turnery work, pipe pipes and sticks.

Naranjo, Nargusta, Sombrerete, Amarillo, Bullywood, Palo Prieto, Roble Coral, Canxan Negro: this tree (Terminalia amazonia) is known and used under many popular names in a large distribution area in Central and South America. Our wood comes from Guatemala. The sapwood is yellowish to orange, the heartwood light yellow-reddish, often with darker reddish or dark brown stripes, the color is reminiscent of orange (=Naranjo). The wood is hard and durable, of high quality and resistance. It is used to make furniture and cabinets, for barrels and doors, floor coverings, in shipbuilding as well as in exterior and interior fittings.

Spindle tree
The spindle tree (Euonymus europaea), also known as the peacock or bishop's mitre, got its colloquial name because of the very characteristic red-colored seed capsules that this shrub, which can also grow into small trees, forms in autumn. The pale yellow wood, which takes on a brown core in old age, is very hard, tough, dense and easy to cut; it is ideal for instrument makers and watchmakers and is used as a so-called cleaning wood for cleaning and polishing the pins and holes in high-precision objects such as clockworks and electrical measuring instruments. It is traditionally used to make caskets, chessboards, organ pipes, shoe pins, toothpicks and loom spindles; the wood is also processed into a particularly high-quality charcoal for drawing.

Strawberry tree The western strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) is native to the Mediterranean region and North Africa, where it grows to a height of 2-3 meters under good conditions, very rarely up to 10 meters. The evergreen tree with hard, shiny leaves develops spherical red-orange fruits that are reminiscent of strawberries - hence the name. These fruits are used to distil Aguardente de Medronho, a notorious spirit in Portugal. The very hard wood of the strawberry tree is used for all kinds of applications in the growing region, but is also simply burned. It has a pale reddish color and dries quickly, usually warping considerably.

Sucupira preto
Sucupira preto, also known as tatabu, is the name of the wood of a tree (Diplotropis purpurea) that grows in Brazil, Suriname and Guyana. The tree often grows to a height of 30 - 40 m and can reach trunk diameters of 60 - 100 cm. The wood of this huge tree is hard and heavy, weighing approx. 900 kg/m3 when dried. The wood has a brown color, is quite coarse-pored and shows a striking striped, alternating grain pattern. The heartwood darkens after contact with oxygen and develops the familiar dark chocolate brown. Sucupira preto is a very hard type of wood that is ideal for furniture, stairs and interior and exterior cladding. Sucupira is also a popular type of wood for wooden flooring, handicrafts and woodturning. The veneer is also in demand for high-quality furniture, vehicle interiors and wall paneling.

Tabebuia, Primavera, Gold Tree, Palo Blanco (Tabebuia donnell-smithii), there are many names for this wood, which is also known as golden mahogany. The tree grows in Mexico and Nicaragua, but can also be found in Hawaii. Due to its strong sheen, the wood looks like a satin fabric with a light yellow color, which is why it is also called white mahogany in English-speaking countries. The tree was often planted in Central America to provide shade on coffee plantations to give the coffee plants some protection against the relentless sun. The trees reach a height of10 to 15 meters, the flowers are bright yellow and bloom for almost 2 months in spring while the tree is still completely bare.

Tamarind
The Tamarind tree (Tamarindus indica) is an evergreen tree that grows to a height of around 20 meters and is native to all tropical regions of Africa and Asia. The tree plays a major role for the people of its region in many different ways: its wood, fruit, bark and leaves are used in every conceivable way in people's lives. The wood of the tamarind is very hard, the small core is dark red-brown in color, the sapwood, which is large in comparison, is almost white to light yellow in color. When tamarind wood is attacked by fungi, insects and rotting processes as it decays in the forest, truly unique black, blue-grey to yellow and light pink discolorations can appear in the sapwood in the form of thin lines, which are very special in their fineness and diversity!

Tamarisk
The small-flowered tamarisk (Tamarix parviflora) is a rare guest from the Mediterranean region in Germany, which rarely grows into a real tree here. It is native to southern Europe and is planted in parks and gardens in northern and central Europe because of its decorative character. It grows as a broad bushy, slightly overhanging shrub that reaches heights of 2 to 5 meters under optimal conditions. The eye-catching tiny pink flowers hang in narrow clusters on the thin branches and make the whole tree look like a pink cloud when they bloom in late spring. The wood of the tamarisk is characterized by the pink flower color, it is hard and dries only with strong cracking. Due to its great rarity, these pieces from the Sanssouci Palace Park in Potsdam are a real rarity! Tarara, Canarywood, Tarara amarilla (Centrolobium microchaete) grows in South America, in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Panama are the main occurrences of this large tree, which can reach up to 1 m in diameter. The color spectrum of the wood ranges from light yellow-orange, often with red to green-grey stripes, in any case always very colorful - the name canary wood was certainly obvious. Some pieces can be almost rainbow-colored - yellow with red stripes and some orange, yellow and brown in it. Some pieces can be almost rainbow-colored - yellow with red stripes and some orange, yellow and brown in it. Apart from its attractive color, the wood has only good qualities: it is very durable, hard and heavy, but can be worked very well. It is widely used for flooring, veneers, in boat building, for furniture, in high-quality interior fittings, for turned parts and in instrument making, as it has good sound properties

Tasmanian myrtle
Tasmanian tiger myrtle, myrtle burl (Nothofagus cunninghamii) is a tree from the European beech family that grows in the rainforests of Tasmania. The wood is predominantly golden yellow to brown in color and usually has a beautiful silky sheen, often beautifully grained. Tasmanian tiger myrtle is the name given to the wood when a fungal infection in the trunk causes a streaky discoloration of the wood. Tasmanian tiger myrtle has irregular black stripes and lines that usually run along the grain. These patterns are really spectacular looking and must be understood as a defense reaction of the trunk wood to the invading fungus. This very special discoloration is usually limited to the lower end of the trunk of very old trees, is a great rarity and is therefore particularly appreciated by craftsmen. Sometimes the stripes are more like leopard spots - but the wood is always an eye-catcher!

Tatajuba
Tatajuba is the trade name for the wood of a lesser-known tree (Bagassa guianensis) that grows in northeastern South America in Guyana, Suriname and Brazil, where it grows to a height of 20-30 meters and can reach a trunk diameter of up to one meter. Like most tropical woods, the wood is hard, with a weight of approx. 800 kg/m3 it is one of the heavier woods and is fairly durable and resistant to rot and insect damage. The wood tends to be light yellow to golden yellow, but darkens slightly to a golden reddish brown. Its pores are fine, usually evenly grained with a striped pattern.Tatajuba is versatile due to its appearance, strength properties, durability and good resistance to rot. Tatajuba is used in interior design for flooring, stairs, furniture, veneers, doors and windows and turned objects, and because of its durability also in boat building and for garden furniture and decking.
Tchitola (Oxystigma oxyphyllum) grows in the tropical regions of West Africa from Nigeria to the Democratic Republic of Congo along the banks of rivers and lakes. The tree reaches heights of around 50 m, the trunks are usually beautifully straight and cylindrical, diameters of 100 cm are common, larger diameters of up to 2 meters also occur. The wood of these trees is often very resinous with dark excretions, the bulk density is 0.55-0.65 g/cm3, so it is a rather light and medium-hard wood. The heartwood is light brown to almost dark red, often with darker colored streaks, the sapwood is clearly separated in color from the heartwood.

Teak (Tectona grandis) is one of the most durable woods of the world, known all over for its excellent qualities. What can we say more?

Thinwin, Khacho (Millettia pendula) is the name given to the wood of the tree that grows in Burma and occasionally in Laos, it is also known as Thinwin. The tree grows to a height of around 25 meters and can be up to 60 cm thick. It usually grows in evergreen tropical rainforests along river courses. Visually, it is very similar to the wood of wenge, which also belongs to this family, but khacho is incomparably harder, denser and heavier. The heartwood shows fine, sharply defined black lines on deep dark brown wood, sometimes with a tinge of purple. It is distinctly marked against the light gray-white sapwood. In Burma, it is used for all purposes in construction and furniture where maximum strength and durability are required, but because of its particular beauty it is also used for carvings. This wood is rarely exported outside the country!

Thuja, Tree of life,
In Germany, the tree of life (Thuja occidentalis) is almost always referred to as Thuja. This has little in common with the precious root wood of the sandarac cypress (Tetraclinis articulata) from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The arborvitae originally comes from eastern North America, but is widespread in Europe. The trees can grow to a height of around 20 metres, and with slow growth they often reach a trunk diameter of up to 1 metre. Live trees have a light, light yellow to reddish-brown heartwood, which is very durable and dimensionally stable after careful drying. Its odour is pleasantly ethereal, flowery and cedar-like, although the thujone contained in the fresh tree can be toxic and allergenic. The wood, which is rarely available commercially in Germany, is used for hydraulic structures, boat building, fence posts and utility poles. The fine heartwood is valued by cabinet makers for its fragrant properties. In the USA, it is widely used in house construction under the name white cedar, and roof shingles split from this wood are extremely durable and popular.

Thuja burl
Thuja burl wood (Tetraclinis articulata) is the name given to the wood of the sandarac tree that grows in the mountainous regions of the Atlas Mountains of North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), a coniferous tree that grows up to 12 m high and which, in addition to the coveted burl wood, also yields the aromatic sandarac resin after the bark has been scratched. The resin is used for incense essences, polishes, varnishes and technical applications and, like the wood itself, gives off a truly beguiling, pleasant aromatic smell due to its high natural resin content. The softwood is quite hard, fine and close-grained, medium brown to chocolate brown color and the burl wood is structured with fine eyes. It is easy to work and takes on a beautiful polish with a lustrous sheen. The burls are dug out of the ground on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains. They often form at the roots of trees that were felled a long time ago or died in fires and are difficult to find in the dry mountains and can only be salvaged with great effort, which makes this wood very expensive.

Tree of life, giant tree of life
The giant tree of life (Thuja plicata) plays an important role as a timber tree in forestry in the north-west of the USA as Western Red Cedar. It is in fact not a true cedar of the Cedrus family, reaches heights of up to 60 metres and lives to be over 800 years old, providing an excellent light, very durable and low-shrinkage wood that is widely used in the construction of houses. The technical properties are particularly good, the wood has white sapwood and a very beautiful reddish-brown core, fresh cuts have a pleasant to pungent, cedar-like odour. All these good properties were already recognised and appreciated by the Indians, who used the wood to make canoes, houses and totem poles, and the bark was processed into ropes and nets. The wood is highly sought after for musical instruments due to its extremely fine and even growth rings - an all-round good wood for many purposes with a very light weight!

Tineo (Weinmannia trichosperma) is an evergreen tree from the western Patagonian rainforest of Chile. The tree, which grows to a height of around 30 meters, has a decoratively cored wood that is reminiscent of fruit wood in terms of colour. This color and pattern gave it its completely misleading trade name, the Indian apple tree, which, as always with timber merchant prose, has nothing to do with the truth - a pure fantasy name. Introduced to Europe only a few years ago, the wood has gained a firm place in the product range due to its decorative appearance as a veneer with its warm, reddish-yellow color and dark veins. Drying is very difficult, the wood warps strongly and is prone to warping. The wood is quite heavy (approx. 700 kg/m3) and hard, but easy to work.

Tzalam (Lysiloma bahamensis) is the wood of a large tree growing in Mexico in the Yucatan region and in Guatemala, whose wood is similar to that of the American walnut tree. it is also traded under the names Caribbean Walnut, Sabicu, False Tamarind.

Vasticola Mallee (Eucalyptus Socialis) is a small tree growing up to 8 m high with rough bark on the lower parts of larger branches and smooth, white bark on smaller branches. The leaves are more or less symmetrical matt green to blue-green. The burls originate from the very dry Goldfield region of southwest Australia and have very fine, flawless eye burls without the resin pockets otherwise typical of eucalyptus burls. The color ranges from pale red to really fiery red, the grain is always very fine. The wood is fine-pored and dense and can be easily turned and worked with sharp tools. Finely sanded surfaces are very smooth and can be polished to a beautiful shine.

Verawood
Verawood, Argentine lignum vitae, Maracaibo lignum vitae, Guayacán (Bulnesia arborea) is a very close relative of the true lignum vitae (Guaiacum sanctum). The large tree originally grows on the coast of Venezuela and Colombia and was introduced to Florida for its ornamental qualities, where it is very common because of its attractive golden-butter-yellow giant flowers that appear three times a year. The color of the heartwood varies greatly, ranging from light olive brown to chocolate brown; fresh wood darkens to bright light green to dark green. The wood is very finely structured, often showing feathery patterns as a result of a strong, tight alternating twist. Due to its very similar properties to real lignum vitae, the wood is very hard, extremely durable and dense, but the wax and resin content of the wood is lower. It is difficult to work due to its hardness, but it is excellent for turning.
The average weight is 1,300 kg/m3. The weights of both species are so close to each other and overlap slightly from tree to tree that weight is not a means of distinguishing these two species. Verawood, Argentine Pockwood has a distinct, perfume-like sweet and aromatic heavy fragrance that lingers even after processing.

Vinegar tree
Vinegar tree is the name almost always given in Germany to the stag horn sumac tree (Rhus typhina). Many people know this beautiful tree or shrub, whose fine, widely branched leaflets turn an intense bright red in the fall. The dark red, finely hairy fruit bulb is reminiscent of the sticks of a stag's antlers. The tree does not grow very large and old, thick trunks are a rarity. But the wood is a real rarity: from yellow-green to squeaky green to green-brown, it is a real exotic among the rather pale native woods, but after all, the sumac is also native to North America. The wood is light and easy to work and has always been reserved for small, delicate jobs.

Walnut, European walnut
European walnut (Juglans regia) grows in almost all of central and south-eastern Europe, but is a comparatively rare tree: usually only a few mature trees out of hundreds have really beautiful dark-grained heartwood, most trunks only produce unsightly wood. As a result, beautiful strong trunks repeatedly achieve top prices that reach the price regions of expensive exotics.
Depending on age and location, the heartwood is light grey to dark brown-violet in color and veined with sometimes beautiful almost black stripes, while the sapwood is clearly light in color. Particularly beautiful burl wood comes from the Caucasus region, where the cultivation of walnut trees for their fruit is a centuries-old tradition and only there are beautiful large, wild-grained burls found! Walnut is probably the finest native wood, for centuries the epitome of luxury and beauty, used for furniture, musical instruments, much sought after for gun stocks. Walnut, Black Walnut, American Walnut
American walnut (Juglans nigra) is native to North America, its wood is very similar to that of the European walnut, but it is generally much darker than that of the German walnut. The heartwood is dark chocolate brown, often with a bluish tinge, always straight-grained and surrounded by light, yellowish to gray sapwood. On black walnut trees, large burls often grow above ground at the grafting sites with the higher-yielding European walnut trees, which have a beautifully dense and dark wood. The grain is always very wavy, wild and irregular, interspersed with eyes, and there are also light sapwood areas in large burls.

Walnut, Claro Walnut
Claro Walnut (Juglans hindsii) is a unique species native to the Pacific Coast of the USA. Lumber is known for rich color and extraordinary figure that is far superior to other Walnut species. Claro Walnut has been favored for high end rifles and shotguns, but its also commonly used for guitars, fine furniture, tables, boxes, and turned items. The Trees grow for Walnuts, or wind row trees. Despite its high density, Claro Walnut works and finishes very well. It is an unrivaled wood that is in high demand and short supply.

Wacapou, also known as Brownheart (Vouacapoua americana) comes from a tree that grows in Brazil, Suriname and French Guiana and produces a very durable, hard wood. The color of the wood ranges from light brown to dark chocolate brown and often the wood is very finely figured and textured, with a subtle lustre effect.

Wamara, panococo, ironwood, Brazilian ebony, Guyana rosewood (Swartzia tomentosa) - there are many names for this wood, and it is difficult to distinguish it from closely related species of the genus Swartzia. The trees grow in northern South America, in the Amazon region of Brazil, Guyana and Surinam. The wood is extremely heavy and hard, at around 1200 kg/m3 it is one of the heaviest woods in the world and is also extremely weather-resistant. Its color is dark brown to violet-black, sometimes tending towards greenish, the sapwood is straw-yellow and clearly set off against the heartwood. As with most extremely hard woods, the grain is simple and straight, it has very fine pores and a slight sheen. Wamara is considered difficult to work with due to its high density; it is only easy to work with carbide-tipped tools. It is processed into fine furniture, flooring and parquet, small woodturning workshops and handicraft specialties.

Wenge (Millettia laurentii) is a rather striking, hard wood from Central Africa that has an unmistakable structure and color: it is dark brown to almost black with striking two-tone structural patterns that depend heavily on the direction of the cut. With large and decorative pores, it has been a classic furniture and veneer wood for years. Wenge is very heavy (approx. 1000 kg/m3) and very durable, it lightens under strong sunlight!

Western Red Box Burl (Eucalyptus polyanthemos) is a rarely found rarity from Australia. The trees grow to decent heights of 20-25 meters and are found sporadically in the east and southeast in the dry forests of New South Wales and Victoria. Burl species are very rare on this species and are difficult to find. The heartwood is pink to orange-red, but can also be an intense brown-red, sharply demarcated from the pale yellow to gray sapwood. A special feature is the rapid color change during felling: initially the heartwood is deep crimson and the sapwood yellow. However, both fade to an amber color within a few minutes. The wood of the burls is very dense and usually has incredible grains and colors, but many of the rare burls are very heavily cracked, which makes them very difficult to use. In this case, the slices are exceptionally almost flawless, unfortunately there is only very little of this beautiful wood.

Wheatbelt Wandoo or Mallee Wandoo (Eucalyptus capillosa) is a species of eucalyptus endemic to Western Australia. The tree has a smooth, gray bark, lanceolate to elliptical leaves, spindle-shaped flower buds with white flowers, the tree bears cup-shaped cylindrical fruits after ripening. The distinctive burl wood grows in outgrowths on the trunk; these growths can be harvested without damaging the tree. The structure of the burls is distinctive with naturally occurring small resin pockets, they have a wide range of different color shades from light brown to dark reddish brown. The wood is dense with fine pores and very hard, but can be easily turned and worked with sharp tools.

Whitewood, tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is also known as yellow poplar or tulip tree in its native habitat along the east coast of North America, where it grows into huge trees up to 60 meters high and 1.5 meters in diameter. These trees have a gigantic timber volume and there are hardly any disturbing branches. The tree's pyramid-shaped crown is striking, the unmistakable leaves are four-lobed and long-stemmed, the large yellow flowers are reminiscent of tulips and gave the tree its name. The wood of the tulip tree is relatively light and soft and resembles that of the poplar, is excellent to work with, dimensionally stable and is used in many different ways: this universal wood is used for everything from plywood veneers, doors, windows and construction timber to furniture, pencils and matches. Its exemplary ease of processing has helped this high-quality wood to become widely used. The heartwood can range in color from yellow to dark brown to green, the sapwood is usually a pale yellowish color.

Willow
The willow (Salix caprea), also known as palm willow or catkin willow, is a very common shrub or tree in Europe and western Asia, which only does not thrive in the warm south. As a very early bloomer, the willow plays an important role in the ecosystem as a food supplier for bees and delights people after long winters with the well-known willow or palm catkins as the first messengers of the approaching spring. The wood and especially the bark of the tree contain tannins and salicin, which has been known since ancient times as a natural antipyretic and analgesic medicine and was used worldwide as acetylsalicylic acid under the name Aspirin. The wood of the willow was once used in many ways for matches, clogs, prostheses, boxes and poles, but today the wood is rarely found.

Woodline Mallee (Eucalyptus cylindrocarpa) is a species of shrub to small multi-stemmed tree endemic to Western Australia. Woodline Mallee is found on sandy areas and low dunes, mainly growing in bushes and forests on red clay sand or sandy soils. It gets its name from the fact that it grows at the edge of the forest. It is found in the south-western goldfields and south-eastern wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Mallees often form burls, which are highly sought after by knife makers and wood turners because they have a particularly beautiful grain. The density of the wood found in these burls is very high (1200-1300 kg/m³). It is therefore very easy to polish. Woody Pear wood (Xylomelum pyriforme) comes from the coastal region of North-East Australia and grows along the humid climate zones of the coast. Normally the plant remains a shrub, but some grow into larger trees. They are so named because of their large, pear-shaped, hardwood fruits, which take several years to ripen. The wood of the Woody Pear tree is light red to dark brown in color, and often very attractively grained. It is used for musical instruments and handicrafts.

Yew
Yew trees (Taxus baccata) grow in large areas of Europe. In England, the trees have been cultivated for centuries for their valuable wood, which is used in bow making, among other things. Yew trees can live for over 1000 years. Beautiful wood, overgrown with fine little buds called dormant eyes, is known as 'peppered' burl wood and is extremely rare and sought after for the finest furniture and woodturning! Yew wood is very hard, tough, heavy, highly elastic and very durable even in damp conditions. Yew wood is the hardest wood of all softwoods. It can be worked easily and well with all tools and planed surfaces become very smooth. A rare, not everyday precious wood!

Zebrano: The strikingly striped wood (Microberlinia brazzavillensis) comes from the African rainforests of Cameroon and Gabon, where it grows into large trees up to approx. 40 m high and approx. 1.5 m in diameter. The wood is uniquely beautifully striped and so striking that it is immediately recognizable among many other types of wood. On a light yellow background, very parallel, sharply defined dark brown veins are as if drawn in, suggesting a zebra with the strong contrasts. The wood is very hard, relatively dense and heavy and highly sought after for luxurious projects. The demand for this wood has risen steadily over the last 20 years due to its uniquely beautiful appearance. Zebrawood often has thin, parallel vascular bundles in the wood, the tree transports fluids and substances in these vessels.

Zelkova
The Zelkova elm (Zelkova serrata) is a tree closely related to the native elms. It is native to Japan, Korea, eastern China and Taiwan. There it is a very popular park and temple tree. It only grows sporadically, but is cultivated for its valuable wood. In Europe, the Zelkove grows in temperate climates and is valued as an ornamental, hardy park tree that is resistant to urban climates. The wood of the Zelkove is medium-hard, medium-heavy and very durable. It is used for various applications and is an essential component of Japanese bow making. In Japan, the wood of the Zelkove is highly valued for the production of furniture, sculptures and other works of art.
In Korea, side furniture, medicine cabinets, cupboards, chests, tables and handicraft objects were made from this wood as early as the Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1910).

Ziricote (Cordia dodecandra) is also known as canalete or siricote and is exported from Mexico and neighboring South American countries such as Guatemala and Belize. The tree remains relatively small, rarely reaching trunk diameters over 40-50 cm, so the wood is very limited in its availability and expensive. Although not a true rosewood, the wood is strongly reminiscent of Rio rosewood and shows some of its typical grain patterns such as landscape-like layered structures and irregular color gradients that appear to be painted in, which do not follow the growth rings as with other woods.
The color of the heartwood is dark brown, gray to black with clearly contrasting, interesting-looking color strips, the wood is characterized by an extremely attractive, strikingly grained wood appearance. Ziricote is used for guitars because of its excellent sound properties, and it is currently a very popular wood for knife handles in particular!