Mahogany other than Swietenia: Carapa

Gaskell Guitars Australia
Sep 15, 2020
3 min read

Updated: Jun 1

Natively-grown Swietenia (American mahogany) is no longer available in the world market and has been commercially banned since 2003. Today, American mahogany is grown only in plantations, mainly in Asia and the South Pacific. Plantation mahogany accounts for 95% of world trade in American mahogany.

To understand why, read this: What is Mahogany?

However, Swietenia is not the only genus in the Meliaceae (Mahogany) family that yields high quality timber. The Meliaceae family consists of 49 genera with approximately 550 species. Some have timber uses and some are even used as direct replacements for Swietenia. Others are merely plants and may only produce fruit, oil and seed often used for medicines or lotions. Of the ones that do yield timber, some include the word "mahogany" in their trade name and others do not. There are two terms to know:

GENUINE MAHOGANY as a term applies to mahogany of the Swietenia genus only, wherever grown.

TRUE MAHOGANY describes the timber of any Mahogany family genus other than Swietenia.

Many other mahogany timbers other than Swietenia are good tone woods and quite suitable for the manufacturing of musical instruments such as electric guitars and drums.

Carapa

Carapa is a Mahogany family genus with two species native to Central and South America and one species native to Africa. In addition to timber uses, seeds from the South American trees are used to make Andiroba oil which is a common topical medicine in the Amazon.

Royal Mahogany

Royal Mahogany is the U.S trade name for Carapa guianensis, one of the two species of Carapa native to Central and South America. Timber from this species is otherwise sold as Crabwood, Andiroba, Demerara mahogany, or Bastard mahogany. Timber from this species varies from light salmon to reddish-brown that darkens with time to a medium to dark shade and is considered high quality and desirable. It is an ideal timber for furniture, cabinetry, mouldings, windows and doors, joinery, panelling, and medium to light construction. Visually, it has a similar appearance to Swietenia, often with more “swirl” to the grain and is an accepted genuine mahogany substitute. Botanically it is very close to Swietenia and Khaya. It is an important export timber from Brazil. It is used throughout South America as a tone wood, especially for acoustic guitars and ukuleles. There are no restrictions on this species.

Tangare

The second South American species, Carapa megistocarpa, is native to Ecuador and is called Tangare. It is almost not worth mentioning as there is no national or international trade in its timber, and even little-to-no local use. It has been known to be used by some indigenous tribes for construction, i.e. for pillars and beams.

References:

African Crabwood

Carapa procera is the third species of Carapa, and the one species native to Africa. It is also known as Okoto. It’s local timber names include Dona (Ivory Coast) and Krabisi (Ghana.) Carapa procera is limited to some extremely remote regions of West Africa. Its density does not exceed a few trees per hectare. The fruit and bark of this species are used as a topical medicine for many ailments and conditions. Local timber uses include carpentry, general construction, musical instruments and toys. This species is not exported and carries no restrictions.