Madagascar rosewood

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ROSEWOOD, MADAGASCAR

Dalbergia spp.
Dalbergia spp. of the family Fabaceae (syn. Leguminosae) the legume, pea, or bean family.

Although my own database only shows about 10 Dalbergias that have Madagascar as all or part of one or more of their common names, I have it anecdotally that there are at least 3 dozen and that identification of, and distinction between, all of them is problematic and that wood sold as "Madagascar rosewood" very like IS rosewood, but may be from a significant number of different ones of these 3 dozen or more species.

The most common of these, and some of their other common names besides Madagascar rosewood, are:

Dalbergia baronii (not to be confused with Dalbergia brownii which has its own page on this site)
Dalbergia greveana --- violet rosewood, Indonesian rosewood, Madagascar violetwood
Dalbergia madagascariensis --- I only have Madagascar rosewood for this one
Dalbergia maritima --- bois de rose, violet rosewood
Dalbergia monticola --- I only have Madagascar rosewood for this one
Dalbergia obtusa --- Madagascar tulipwood
Dalbergia perrieri --- I only have Madagascar rosewood for this one
Dalbergia purpurascens --- manary, manipika, Malagasy tulipwood
Dalbergia trichocarpa (syn. Dalbergia perrieri) --- manary, manipiki

I do not have any knowledge of what differences there are among those species, nor which of them any of the following pics are unless specifically stated.

Another common name for the same wood is "bois de rose", which just means "wood that is red" and at present, woods sold under that name have their own page on this site, but I believe that most, if not all, of the woods shown there are what is also meant in the USA by the term Madagascar rosewood (although "bois de rose" encompasses MANY more species). I also note that most of the woods on that page are purple, whereas the woods on this page show a more likely range of colors.

THE ROSEWOODS, REAL and OTHERWISE

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 Madagascar violetwood / Dalbergia maritima --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. I note that the sample vendor, who is VERY unreliable about names, has the specific epithet spelled incorrectly. It should be maritima, as I show it above, rather than maritime as he has it on the label. The labeled side is raw but the 2nd side has been sanded to 240 grit and so shows details better and is a richer color

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Madagascar rosewood (madagascar violetwood) / Dalbergia maritima --- 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 Madagascar violetwood / Dalbergia greveana --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The labeled side is raw but the 2nd side has been sanded to 240 grit and so shows looks slightly richer in color.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Madagascar rosewood (madagascar violetwood, / Dalbergia greveana --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The slight difference in color between the two sides is because the first side is fine sanded and the second side still has some patina

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Madagascar rosewood / Dalbergia aff greveana --- 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 Malagasy tulipwood / Dalbergia purpurascens --- 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

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Madagascar rosewood / Dalbergia baronii --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The labeled side is raw but the 2nd side has been sanded to 240 grit and so shows details better.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Madagascar rosewood / Dalbergia monticola --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. NOTE: the general characteristics other than color, and especially the end grain detail, on this one appear to be significantly different than either the sample directly above or the sample directly below, but all three of these samples are from the same vendor, who says that he harvested them in Madagascar and that they are D. monticola, so I'm just not sure whether this one is mis-identified or not.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Madagascar rosewood / Dalbergia spp. --- This was listed by the vendor a "brown rosewood from Madagascar / Dalbergia spp. HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The first side has been fine sanded and shows a slightly richer color and also shows the fine grain detail better in the enlargements.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Madagascar / Dalbergia spp. --- This was listed by the vendor a "brown rosewood from Madagascar / Dalbergia spp. 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 Madagascar / Dalbergia spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This is an unidentified Dalbergia harvested in Madagascar.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Madagascar rosewood / Dalbergia spp. --- The vendor listed this as "reddish brown rosewood from Madagascar / Dalbergia spp." 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 Madagascar rosewood / Dalbergia spp. --- This was listed by the vendor as "berea violet rosewood from Madagascar / Dalbergia spp. 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

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of "cherry smelling" Madagascar rosewood / Dalbergia spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The first side is fine sanded so shows a slightly richer color

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

NOTE: There are 4 samples in this subsection, three from the same vendor and the 4th one possibly from the same vendor. They are as follows:
#1) from the known vendor, listed as Dalbergia trichocarpa but definitely NOT that species and may not even be a rosewood.
#2) from the known vendor, listed as Dalbergia trichocarpa but definitely NOT that species and may not even be a rosewood.
#3) unknown vendor, listed as Dalbergia spp., has similar appearance to #1 and #2, may not even be a rosewood
#4) from the known vendor, listed as Dalbergia trichocarpa and from everything I can tell, it IS in fact that species.

both sides of a sample plank of manipiki / ~~Dalbergia trichocarpa~~ --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This is the first to the two that are definitly not Dalbergia trichocarpal.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Madagascar rosewood (aka manipiki) / ~~Dalbergia trichocarpa~~ --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This is the second of the two that are definitely not Dalbergia trichocarpa

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Madagascar rosewood / Dalbergia spp. (maybe) --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This was listed only as Dalbergia spp. and since it appears to be the same species (based on end grain and general appearance of the face grain) as the two samples directly above, I've put it here. The owner of this particular piece (who has more of it) says it does smell like a rosewood and works very nicely.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of manipiki / Dalbergia trichocarpa --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Unlike the two samples directly above, THIS sample, supposedly also of D. trichocarpa, does in fact look like a Dalbergia and may be correctly identified.