3872

5(1): Timber trees; Major commercial timbers

Swietenia macrophylla King

This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Swietenia in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.

Hook.f., Icon. pl. 16: t. 1550 (1886).

Swietenia krukovii Gleason (1936), Swietenia belizensis Lundell (1941).

Big-, broad- or large-leaved mahogany, Honduras mahogany (En).

Native to the mainland of tropical Central and South America from Mexico to Peru and Brazil but absent from the central Amazon. Planted throughout the tropics in reforestation projects and plantations, for instance in Java, Sarawak and especially the Philippines, and planted as a lawn tree in Peninsular Malaysia.

The timber is used as mahogany; the wood is generally less dense and of slightly lower quality than that of narrow-leaved mahogany.

A medium-sized to large tree up to 40(—60) m tall, bole branchless for up to 18(—25) m with a diameter up to 150(—200) cm, buttresses broad and plank-like, up to 5 m high; leaves with (2—)3—6(—8) pairs of leaflets of (8—)9—13(—18) cm 3—4(—5.5) cm, on young trees sometimes larger; inflorescence 10—18(—20) cm long; flowers with ciliate sepals and petals; capsule 10—15(—22) cm long; seed 7.5—12 cm long. The density of the wood of plantation-grown trees is often somewhat less than that of trees from the forest in the natural area of distribution and weighs 485—840 kg/m³ at 12% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

[13]Alrasjid, H. & Mangsud, 1973. Natural regeneration trials with mahogany (Swietenia spp.) in the Ngraho and Tobo forest circles, E. Java. Laporan No 165. Lembaga Penelitian Hutan, Bogor. 25 pp.
[35]Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1963–1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen.
[89]Browne, F.G., 1955. Forest trees of Sarawak and Brunei and their products. Government Printing Office, Kuching. xviii + 369 pp.
[127]Charomaini, M., Bramasto, Y & Harahap, 1989. Progeny test of Swietenia macrophylla King at seedling stage. Buletin Penelitian Hutan 514: 25–32.
[144]Chudnoff, M., 1979. Tropical timbers of the world. USDA, Unites States Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin. 831 pp.
[153]Corner, E.J.H., 1988. Wayside trees of Malaya. 3rd edition. 2 volumes. The Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur. 774 pp.
[175]de Guzman, E, R. M. Umali, & E.D. Sotalbo, 1986. Guide to Philippine flora and fauna. Vol. 3: dipterocarps, non-dipterocarps. Natural Resources Management Center, Ministry of Natural Resources & University of the Philippines, Manila. xx + 414 pp.
[226]Farmer, R.H., 1972. A handbook of hardwoods. 2nd edition. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London. 243 pp.
[233]Flora Neotropica (various editors), 1968–. The New York Botanical Garden, New York.
[310]Haslett, A.N., 1986. Properties and uses of the timbers of western Samoa. Plantation-grown exotic hardwoods. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wellington. 26 pp.
[367]Kobayashi, T., 1981. Notes on the Philippine fungi parasitic to woody plants (4). Transactions of the Mycological Society of Japan 22: 301–310.
[439]Longwood, F.R., 1962. Present and potential commercial timbers of the Caribbean. Agricultural Handbook No 207. Unites States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington, D.C. 167 pp.
[461]Martawijaya, A. et al., 1986. Indonesian wood atlas. Vol. 1. Forestry Products and Development Centre, Bogor. 166 pp.
[463]Martini, 1985. Penyimpanan benih Swietenia macrophylla dan Agathis loranthifolia [Storage behaviour of Swietenia macrophylla and Agathis loranthifolia seed]. Buletin Penelitian Hutan 468: 24–37.
[498]Morgan, F.D. & Suratmo, F.G., 1976. Host preferences of Hypsipyla robusta Moore (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in West Java. Australian Forestry 39: 103–112.
[520]Noltee, A.C., 1925. Swietenia mahagoni Jacq. en S. macrophylla King. Mededeelingen van het Proefstation voor het Boschwezen 15. Proefstation voor het Boschwezen, Bogor. 125 pp.
[653]Styles, B.T., 1972. The flower biology of the Meliaceae and its bearing on tree breeding. Silvae Genetica 21: 175–182.
[654]Styles, B.T. & Vosa, C.G., 1971. Chromosome numbers in the Meliaceae. Taxon 20: 485–499.
[665]Suratmo, F.G., 1977. Infestation of the leading shoots of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) by Hypsipyla robusta Moore in West Java, Indonesia. BIOTROP Special Publication 2. BIOTROP-SEAMEO, Bogor. pp. 121–132.
[687]Te Aho, T. & Hosking, M.R. (Editors), 1985. Workshop on nursery and plantation practices in the ASEAN, Jakarta, Indonesia. ASEAN-New Zealand afforestation Project. New Zealand Forest Service, Wellington. 372 pp.
[764]Webb, D.B. et al., 1984. A guide to species selection for tropical and sub-tropical plantations. 2nd ed. Tropical Forestry Papers No 15. Unit of Tropical Silviculture, Commonwealth Forestry Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford. 256 pp.
[770]Whitmore, J.L. & Hinojosa, G., 1977. Mahogany (Swietenia) hybrids. Research Paper ITF-23. Forest Service U.S.D.A., Rio Piedras. 8 pp.
[810]Yao, C.E., 1981. Survival and growth of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) seedlings under fertilized grassland condition. Sylvatrop 6: 203–217.

M.S.M. Sosef

Sosef, M.S.M., 1993. Swietenia macrophylla King. In: Soerianegara, I. and Lemmens, R.H.M.J. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(1): Timber trees; Major commercial timbers. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea