COMMON NAMES:   Cuban mahogany, Santo Domingan mahogany, Spanish mahogany

SPECIFIC GRAVITY:   .5

DENSITY:  

TANGENTIAL MOVEMENT:   4.1%

RADIAL MOVEMENT:   3%

VOLUMETRIC SHRINKAGE:   7.8%

DURABILITY1:   Very good

SOURCE:  Caribbean islands and Caribbean rim localities.

DESCRIPTION:   Denser, richer, and finer-textured than Honduras mahogany. Heartwood medium to dark reddish brown, darkening upon exposure; sapwood lighter in color. Durable and an excellent water wood. Unsurpassed working and finishing qualities. Long the favorite wood for fine furniture, Cuban mahogany has been nearly logged out and is now protected by law in its native habitat. Smaller plantation-grown trees and windfalls account for much of current production. Cuban mahogany trees were planted in Indonesia and Oceania hundreds of years ago by Spanish missionaries. The wood from these trees is somewhat lighter and coarser than the slower-growing wood native to the Caribbean.

1 Durability refers to a wood's resistance to rotting in wet environments.