| | CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification and information retrieval |
Nomenclature. Family: FABACEAE-FABOIDEAE. Further trade and local names: hazovola mena, manary boraka, sovoka, voambona (MG); Madagskar Palisander (DE); Madagascar rosewood (GB); palissandre de Madagascar (FR). Code according to DIN EN 13556: none.
CITES(EU) status of protection. Listed in Annex II(B).
Similar timbers. Similar to Dalbergia nigra (CITES I).
Geographic distribution. Madagascar & other islands. Eastern Madagascar.
Growth rings, colour, grain, etc. Growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent. Heartwood basically brown, yellow; with streaks, or without streaks. Sapwood distinct from heartwood colour. Wood heavy and hard (0.78–0.88). Interlocked grain absent.
Hardwood vs softwood. Vessels (pores) present (= hardwood).
Vessels (pores). Wood diffuse-porous. Vessels (pores) in multiples; commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows, or in radial rows of 4 or more. Vessels of rather different size and unevenly distributed over the cross section. Vessels medium, or large (120–200–340(-400) µm); very few. Tyloses absent. Other deposits in heartwood vessels (pores) present.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma present; predominantely banded, or not banded. Parenchyma bands not (only) marginal; narrow to wide; much wider than rays. Other macroscopically visible types of axial parenchyma: aliform lozenge type, aliform winged, confluent.
Rays. Rays narrow. Large rays commonly less than 1 mm high.
Storied structure. Storied structure present. Tiers regular (horizontal or slightly inclined); 4–6 per axial millimetre.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood not fluorescent. Water extract not fluorescent; colour shade of water extract colourless to brown. Heartwood extractives not leachable by water. Ethanol extract fluorescent (yellowish green or light orange, depending on origin of sample); colour shade of ethanol extract colourless to brown. Splinter burns to full ash; colour of ash white to grey.
Additional information. • Transverse section + wood surface. Transverse section ca. 10x. Tangential surface, natural size. • Comparison Dalbergia madagascariensis vs Dalbergia nigra. Dalbergia nigra (Brazilian rosewood) - CITES I. The two Dalbergia species are similar in color shades, figure and weight, but can be distinguished well on the cross-section. Dalbergia madagascariensis has a pronounced banded axial parenchyma (many wide and prominent bands), while in Dalbergia nigra bands are only weakly developed (few, narrow and inconspicuous) and rarely show up well against the dark fibrous tissue.
The interactive key allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, and geographical distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘Richter, H.G., Gembruch, K., and Koch, G. 2014 onwards. CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, and Spanish. Version: 4th April 2023. www.delta-intkey.com’.
