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LEBBECK

Albizia lebbeck
Albezia lebbeck of the family Fabaceae (syn. Leguminosae) the legume, pea, or bean family . Native to various areas in Asia and also grows in Hawaii and the subtropical Americas. The misspelling of the specific epithet as "lebbek" is common

Other names are lebbek, koko, kokko, Indian albizia, woman's tongue, siris tree, East Indian walnut, and over 150 more.

my samples: NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K) colors will vary under other lighting conditions

both sides of a sample plank of koko / Albizia lebbeck (which the seller had as "lebbek")


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


sample plank and end grain provided to me as labbeck by the IWCS, but cannot find that name in any reference source, so I think they just spelled it wrong. They ALSO had the botanical name as Albezia lebbec which is ALSO a mis-spelling --- pretty shoddy for an organization that is supposed to help set the standards.


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of lebbeck / Albizia lebbeck --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of lebbeck / Albizia lebbeck --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of woman's tongue / Albizia lebbeck --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Note that the first side has a finishing agent and so is not a raw wood color. The upper right corner of the second side shows some water stain.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank listed as woman's tongue / Albizia lebbeck and which appears to be entirely sapwood although it was not labeled as such. NOTE: this seems to be confirmed by the few web pics I could find, which show woman's tongue to be pretty much the same as the ones listed as koko or any of the other names. That is, none of them are white like this except in the sapwood. Also, the sample directly above this one is also listed as "woman's tongue" and it shows some light wood as sapwood right at its edge.


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

web pics:

a very well-photographed, 3" long, piece listed as lebbeck / Albizia lebbeck with both levels of enlargement, the 2nd of which shows the face grain very nicely. Although not mentioned in the description, the piece is clearly curly


two planks labeled as Hawaiiana koko / Albizia lebbeck --- the first one has some spalted sapwood


plank listed as siris / Albizia lebbeck


plank listed as woman's tongue / Albizia lebbeck


plank listed as kokko / Albbizia lebbeck --- I REALLY don't believe the color on this one, and the very coarse grain (see the enlargement) is also unlikely. I'm thinking this is some other wood entirely.


plank listed as lebbeck / Albizia lebbeck and not listed as curly although it clearly is


flooring listed as albizia / Albizia lebbeck --- color seems VERY unlikely