Guibourtia

Last updated

Guibourtia
Guibourtia coleosperma01.jpg
Timber of Guibourtia coleosperma (African Rosewood)
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Detarioideae
Tribe: Detarieae
Genus: Guibourtia
Benn.
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • GorskiaBolle
  • PseudocopaivaBritton & P. Wilson

Guibourtia is a flowering plant genus in the family Fabaceae, also known by the common names as Rhodesian copalwood, African Rosewood, amazique, bubinga, kevazingo, and ovangkol .

Contents

Description

Guibourtia contains 16 species that are native to tropical regions of Africa (13 species) and South America (3 species). [1] They occur in swampy or periodically inundated forests, as well as near rivers or at lakeshores.

The trees grow to 40–50 m tall, with a trunk diameter of 1–2 m, often with a heavily buttressed trunk. [2]

Species

Africa [1]
South America [1]

Uses

The genus is used as tropical hardwood timber and is traded under the common names Bubinga, African rosewood, Amazoue, Amazique, Aevazingo, and Avangkol. [4] [5] [6]

The timber is also used for inlays [7] and in the manufacture of high-end furniture (especially by contemporary Arts and Crafts artists), on high-end woodworking tools such as the front knobs and rear handles of smooth planes, knife handles and medium-end tobacco pipes.

The timber is often used by luthiers for harps and other instruments, such as bass guitars, because of its mellow and well-rounded sound and the various range of grain patterns. Warwick Bass and Ibanez are known to use bubinga and ovangkol. It has been used in drum shells as well. Drum companies such as Tama offer various high-end drum kits with plies of Bubinga in the shells.[ failed verification ] Crafter also uses Bubinga on some instruments. [8] Bubinga is also used in both acoustic and electric guitars for its figure and hardness.

Species of Guibourtia also produce Congo copal.

Related Research Articles

<i>Pterocarpus</i> Genus of legumes

Pterocarpus is a pantropical genus of trees in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Pterocarpus clade within the Dalbergieae. Most species of Pterocarpus yield valuable timber traded as padauk ; other common names are mukwa or narra. P. santalinus also yields the most precious red sandalwood in China known as Zitan. The wood from the narra tree and the Burmese padauk tree is marketed as amboyna when it has grown in the burl form. The scientific name is Latinized Ancient Greek and means "wing fruit", referring to the unusual shape of the seed pods in this genus.

<i>Dalbergia</i> Genus of legumes

Dalbergia is a large genus of small to medium-size trees, shrubs and lianas in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Dalbergia clade : the Dalbergieae. The genus has a wide distribution, native to the tropical regions of Central and South America, Africa, Madagascar and southern Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cocobolo</span> Type of wood

Cocobolo is a tropical hardwood of Central American trees belonging to the genus Dalbergia. Only the heartwood of cocobolo is used; it is usually orange or reddish-brown, often with darker irregular traces weaving through the wood. The heartwood changes color after being cut and can be polished to a lustrous, glassy finish; being quite dense, sometimes having a specific gravity of over 1.0, it will sink in water. The sapwood is a creamy yellow, with a sharp boundary between it and the heartwood.

<i>Laburnum</i> Genus of plants

Laburnum, sometimes called golden chain or golden rain, is a genus of two species of small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are Laburnum anagyroidescommon laburnum and Laburnum alpinumalpine laburnum. They are native to the mountains of southern Europe from France to the Balkans.

<i>Aucoumea klaineana</i> Species of tree

Aucoumea klaineana is a tree in the family Burseraceae, native to equatorial west Africa in Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, and Río Muni. It is a large hardwood tree growing to 30–40 m tall, rarely larger, with a trunk 1.0–2.5 m diameter above the often large basal buttresses. The tree generally grows in small stands, with the roots of the trees intertwined with neighboring trees. In Gabon, it is the primary timber species.

<i>Entandrophragma</i> Genus of flowering plants

Entandrophragma is a genus of eleven known species of deciduous trees in the family Meliaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosewood</span> One of several types of wood from tropical trees

Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues and colours.

<i>Peltogyne</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae

Peltogyne, commonly known as purpleheart, violet wood, amaranth and other local names is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae; native to tropical rainforests of Central and South America; from Guerrero, Mexico, through Central America, and as far as south-eastern Brazil.

<i>Cynometra</i> Genus of legumes

Cynometra is genus of tropical forest trees with a pantropical distribution. It is particularly important as a forest component in west Africa and the neotropics. Cynometra alexandri (muhimbi) is a familiar timber tree of central and east Africa. The genus is a member of the subfamily Detarioideae. It has been suggested that Cynometra is polyphyletic and is in need of revision. In 2019, beside description of 4 new species, Aleksandar Radosavljevic suggested that the species formerly recognized as Maniltoa should be included in this genus and some of the mainland tropical African species excluded from this genus because of their jointed pedicels and dehiscent fruits.

Tonewood refers to specific wood varieties that possess tonal properties that make them good choices for use in woodwind or acoustic stringed instruments.

<i>Albizia lebbeck</i> Species of legume

Albizia lebbeck is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar. It is widely cultivated and naturalised in other tropical and subtropical regions, including Australia. Common names in English include siris, Indian siris, East Indian walnut, Broome raintree, lebbeck, lebbek tree, frywood, koko and woman's tongue tree. The latter name is a play on the sound the seeds make as they rattle inside the pods. Siris is also a common name of the genus Albizia.

<i>Baikiaea plurijuga</i> Species of legume

Baikiaea plurijuga, known as African teak, Mukusi, Rhodesian teak, Zambian teak or Zambesi redwood, is a species of Afrotropical tree from the legume family, the Fabaceae from southern Africa.

Guibourtia ehie is an evergreen tree of the genus Guibourtia in the family Fabaceae, also known by the common names amazique, amazoué, hyedua, black hyedua, mozambique, ovangkol and shedua.

<i>Pericopsis elata</i> Species of flowering plant

Pericopsis elata is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is known by the common names African teak, afromosia, afrormosia, kokrodua and assamela.

Guibourtia arnoldiana is a species of Guibourtia in the family Fabaceae, native to tropical western Africa from the Gabon, Republic of the Congo, western Democratic Republic of the Congo, and northernmost Angola (Cabinda).

<i>Dysoxylum fraserianum</i> Species of tree

Dysoxylum fraserianum, commonly known as rosewood or rose mahogany, is a medium-sized to large tree native to New South Wales and Queensland. It is widely used with the purpose of street design and to provide shade in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. Rosewood ranges from the rainforest around eastern Australia from Bundaberg in Queensland to Wyong in New South Wales. At maturity, it can reach a height of 57 metres (200 ft). It is generally known for its strong scent of rose from its bark.

<i>Guibourtia coleosperma</i> Species of legume

Guibourtia coleosperma, the African rosewood (ambiguous), large false mopane, Rhodesian copalwood or machibi, is a species of Guibourtia in the family Fabaceae. It is a large evergreen tree found in open woodland and dry forest, almost exclusively on Kalahari Sand in Angola, southern Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iroko</span> Genus of plants of the family Moraceae

Iroko is a large hardwood tree from the west coast of tropical Africa that can live up to 500 years. This is the common name for the genus Milicia, in which there are two recognized species, which are closely related: Milicia excelsa and Milicia regia.

Daniellia oliveri is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to tropical West and Central Africa and is commonly known as the African copaiba balsam tree, or the West African copal tree.

Guibourtia tessmannii is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae. It is a medium to large-sized tree and is native to Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The timber has an attractive appearance and has many uses, and the bark is used in traditional medicine.

References

  1. 1 2 3 International Legume Database & Information Service: Guibourtia Archived 2009-05-04 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Translated from the German Wikipedia article Guibourtia
  3. "Guibourtia chodatiana". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  4. https://www.wood-database.com/bubinga/ Bubinga – The Wood Database
  5. https://www.wood-database.com/ovankol/ Ovankol – The Wood Database
  6. https://www.wood-database.com/tiete-rosewood/ Tiete-Rosewood – The Wood Database
  7. "Bubinga | The Wood Database – Lumber Identification (Hardwood)" . Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  8. "Crafter M-85E/AM Mandolin w/bag, Bubinga top, South Europe". Craftereurope.com. 2007-12-05. Retrieved 2011-01-12.