Trade Names:  Rosewood, East Indian Rosewood

Origin:  Asia

Range:  Southern Asia, East India, Sri Lanka, in lower and damp tropical rain forests, good veneer logs are rare.

Uses:  High quality architectural woodwork or furniture.

Properties:  The heartwood is tobacco-colored, gold-brown to purple-brown with dark brown to purple-brown lines. The dark streaks demarcate the growth zones and give the wood its typical attractive pattern, especially apparent when flat cut.

Machining:  Generally good and easy working with all tools. Calcareous and gum deposits can negatively influence the service life of tools. Very smooth surfaces can be produced by planing.

Seasoning:  There is a risk of end checking with the necessary relatively fast drying. There is no great tendency to warp but logs with calcareous deposits are more prone to checking.