Mahogany other than Swietenia: Melia

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. 

Melia

Melia is a Mahogany family tree with three species, one of which yields high-quality timber but has no commercial or export interest.

Melia azedarach is native to Pakistan, India, China, South East Asia and Australia. It is mainly known in English as CHINABERRY or WHITE CEDAR; with BEAD-TREE, CAPE LILAC, and PERSIAN LILAC as other less common trade names. This species yields timber that is reddish-brown with a straight but coarse grain. In Asia it is used to manufacture agricultural implements, furniture, plywood, boxes, poles, tool handles etc. It is used in cabinet making and in construction because of its resistance to termites. Its fruit are poisonous to humans and animals. In Australia they are sold as shade trees for small gardens. It was introduced in the United States as a shade tree in the mid-1800s and became invasive, particularly in the South. It is considered a weed of some concern in the United States due to its aggressive root system that kills native trees and shrubs, and because of its prolific spread of it seed caused by birds that are attracted to its berries. Commercial trade of its timber in the United States is reserved to locally obtained, small turning pieces for hobbyists and for minor carpentry uses. Although it is very easy to work with, this wood is very coarse with large pores and requires a lot of filling to make it smooth. For that reason, it is probably not worth the extra effort for a serious wood project when you can use better, readily available alternatives (but that is only a matter of opinion.) The one advantage is that it is very cheap as it is also considered a practice wood.

References:

• http://www.prota4u.org/protav8.asp?h=M4&t=Melia,azedarach&p=Melia+azedarach#Synonyms

• http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2505106

• http://www.theplantlist.org/browse/A/Meliaceae/Melia/

• http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/chinaberry/

• Melia azedarach - White Cedar, China Berry - Trees - Speciality Trees

• http://anpsa.org.au/m-aze.html

• http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/eafrinet/weeds/key/weeds/Media/Html/Melia_azedarach__(Melia).htm

• http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2014/details/species/id/16838471/source/tree