PROSEA
Record display

Record Number

3873

PROSEA Handbook Number

5(1): Timber trees; Major commercial timbers

Taxon

Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq.

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

Protologue

Enum. syst. pl. Carib. 4: 20 (1760).

Vernacular Names

Small- or narrow-leaved mahogany, West Indian mahogany, Spanish or Cuban mahogany (En).

Distribution

Native to the West Indian Islands but now very rare due to over-exploitation. Planted throughout the tropics in reforestation projects and plantations, for instance in Java and the Philippines and occasionally in gardens in Peninsular Malaysia.

Uses

The timber is regarded as the best quality mahogany.

Observations

A small to medium-sized tree up to 30 m tall, bole often short and much-branched, buttresses short and blunt; leaves with 2—4(—5) pairs of leaflets of (4—)5—6(—8) cm (1.5—)2.5—3.3 cm, on young trees sometimes larger; inflorescence (5—)8—15(—18) cm long; flowers with glabrous sepals and petals; capsule (4.5—)6—10 cm long; seed 2—6 cm long. Plantation-grown wood is usually somewhat less dense than that from trees of the forest and weighs 560—740(—850) kg/m3 at 15% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

Selected Sources

[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.
[153]Corner, E.J.H., 1988. Wayside trees of Malaya. 3rd edition. 2 volumes. The Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur. 774 pp.
[233]Flora Neotropica (various editors), 1968–. The New York Botanical Garden, New York.
[434]Little, E.L. & Wadsworth, F.H., 1964. Common trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Agricultural Handbook No 249. Unites States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington, D.C. 548 pp.
[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.
[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.
[539]Penafiel, S.R. & Botengan, H.P., 1985. Indigenous agroforestry in Benguet: starting point for research and development. Canopy International 11(2): 1, 8–9.
[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.

Author(s)

M.S.M. Sosef

Correct Citation of this Article

Sosef, M.S.M., 1993. Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq.. 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

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