Editing Mahogany (section)

==Description==
[[File:Caoba (Swietenia macrophilla) 07.jpg|thumb|''[[Swietenia macrophylla]]'' tree in [[Peru]]]]
Mahogany is a commercially important lumber prized for its beauty, durability, and color, and used for [[paneling]] and to make [[furniture]], [[boat-building|boats]], [[musical instrument]]s and other items. The leading importer of mahogany is the United States, followed by Britain;<ref name="Bridgewater-2012"/> while the largest exporter today is [[Peru]], which surpassed Brazil after that country banned mahogany exports in 2001.<ref>Donald R. Liddick, ''Crimes Against Nature: Illegal Industries and the Global Environment'' (ABC-CLIO, 2011), p. 104.</ref> It is estimated that some 80 or 90 percent of Peruvian mahogany exported to the United States is [[Illegal logging|illegally harvested]], with the economic cost of illegal logging in Peru placed conservatively at $40–70 million USD annually.<ref name="Kozloff-2010">Nikolas Kozloff, ''Rain in the Amazon: How South America's Climate Change Affects the Entire Planet'' (Macmillan, 2010)</ref><ref>Marcelo M. Giugale & Vicente Fretes Cibils, ''An Opportunity for a Different Peru: Prosperous, Equitable, and Governable'' (World Bank Publications, 2007), p. 378.</ref> It was estimated that in 2000, some 57,000 mahogany trees were harvested to supply the U.S. furniture trade alone.<ref name="Bridgewater-2012"/>

Mahogany is the [[national tree]] of the [[Dominican Republic]]<ref>Alan Cambeira, ''Quisqueya La Bella: The Dominican Republic in Historical and Cultural Perspective'' (M.E. Sharpe, 1997), p. 17.</ref> and [[Belize]].<ref name="Day-Wilson-2012">Victoria Day-Wilson, ''Living Abroad in Belize'' (Avalon Travel 2012), p. 14.</ref> A mahogany tree with two [[Lumberjack|woodcutters]] bearing an [[axe]] and a paddle also appears on the [[Coat of arms of Belize|Belizean national coat of arms]], under the [[List of national mottos|national motto]], {{Lang|la|Sub umbra floreo}}, [[Latin]] for "under the shade I flourish."<ref name="Day-Wilson-2012"/>

The specific density of mahogany is 0.55.<ref>{{cite book |title=Engineering Fundamentals: An Introduction to Engineering, By Saeed Moaveni, pg 273. |isbn = 9781305537880| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rqOaBAAAQBAJ&q=specific+gravity+fundamentals+definition&pg=PA272 |last1 = Moaveni|first1 = Saeed|date = January 2015| publisher=Cengage Learning }}</ref> Mahogany, African: (500–850&nbsp;kg/m<sup>3</sup>); Mahogany, Cuban: 660&nbsp;kg/m<sup>3</sup>; Mahogany, Honduras: 650&nbsp;kg/m<sup>3</sup>; Mahogany, Spanish: 850&nbsp;kg/m<sup>3</sup>.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wood Species - Densities |url=https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wood-density-d_40.html |website=www.engineeringtoolbox.com |access-date=14 November 2023 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927223719/https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wood-density-d_40.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Species===
[[File:Fruit with leaves at Branch Canopy I IMG 8673.jpg|thumb|Honduran mahogany (''[[Swietenia macrophylla]]'') leaves and fruit]]
[[File:Swietenia mahagoni Boynton Beach starr-090924-5920.jpg|thumb|Cuban mahogany (''[[Swietenia mahagoni]]'') leaves and fruit]]
[[File:Swietenia humilis pods (25258438815).jpg|thumb|Pacific Coast mahogany (''[[Swietenia humilis]]'') leaves and fruit]]
The three species are:
* Honduran or big-leaf mahogany (''[[Swietenia macrophylla]]''), with a range from Mexico to southern [[Amazon rainforest|Amazonia]] in [[Brazil]], the most widespread species of mahogany and the only genuine mahogany species commercially grown today.<ref name="Bridgewater-2012"/> Illegal logging of ''S.&nbsp;macrophylla'', and its highly destructive environmental effects,<ref name="Mahogany-2000">"Mahogany," ''Encyclopedia of Environmental Science'' (University of Rochester Press, 2000, ed. John F. Mongillo), p. 216.</ref> led to the species' placement in 2003 on Appendix II of [[Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species]] (CITES), the first time that a high-volume, high-value tree was listed on Appendix II.<ref>David Humphreys, ''Logjam: Deforestation and the Crisis of Global Governance'' (Routledge, 2012), {{ ISBN |1 84407 301 7}} p. 200.</ref>
* [[West Indies|West Indian]]<ref>Simon Gardner, Pindar Sidisunthorn and Lai Ee May, 2011. Heritage Trees of Penang. Penang: Areca Books. {{ISBN|978-967-57190-6-6}}</ref> or [[Cuba]]n mahogany (''[[Swietenia mahagoni]]''), native to [[southern Florida]] and the [[Caribbean]], formerly dominant in the mahogany trade, but not in widespread commercial use since World War II.<ref name="Bridgewater-2012"/>
* ''[[Swietenia humilis]]'', a small and often twisted mahogany tree limited to seasonally [[dry forest]]s in Pacific Central America that is of limited commercial utility.<ref name="Bridgewater-2012"/> Some [[botanist]]s believe that ''S.&nbsp;humilis'' is a mere variant of ''S.&nbsp;macrophylla''.<ref name="Bridgewater-2012"/>

===Other species===
While only the three ''Swietenia'' species are classified officially as "genuine mahogany", the [[Federal Trade Commission]] allows certain species of trees other than ''Swietenia'' to be sold as "mahoganies" in the U.S. timber trade. This is due to the long-standing usage of the terms. But it must be prefixed with another descriptor, and they are not allowed to be sold under the name "mahogany" alone.<ref name="USFTC-1998"/>

[[File:Khaya anthotheca.jpg|thumb|left|African mahogany (''[[Khaya anthotheca]]'')]]
Two names are allowed. The first is "African mahogany" for the five species of the genus ''[[Khaya]]'' (which also belong to the mahogany family), namely: ''[[Khaya anthotheca|K.&nbsp;anthotheca]]'', ''[[Khaya grandifoliola|K.&nbsp;grandifoliola]]'', ''[[Khaya ivorensis|K.&nbsp;ivorensis]]'', ''[[Khaya madagascariensis|K.&nbsp;madagascariensis]]'', and ''[[Khaya senegalensis|K.&nbsp;senegalensis]]''. All of them are native to native to [[Africa]] and [[Madagascar]]. The second is the name "Philippine mahogany" for seven species (all native to the [[Philippines]]) in the genus ''[[Shorea]]'' and ''[[Parashorea]]'' (which are unrelated [[dipterocarp]]s, more commonly known as "lauan" or "meranti"), namely:''[[Shorea polysperma|S.&nbsp;polysperma]]'', ''[[Shorea negrosensis|S.&nbsp;negrosensis]]'', ''[[Shorea contorta|S.&nbsp;contorta]]'', ''[[Shorea ovata|S.&nbsp;ovata]]'', ''[[Shorea almon|S.&nbsp;almon]]'', ''[[Shorea palosapis|S.&nbsp;palosapis]]'', and ''[[Parashorea malaanonan|P.&nbsp;malaanonan]].''<ref name="USFTC-1998">{{cite book |author= Federal Trade Commission|publisher =U.S. Government Publishing Office |volume= 1|title=Code of Federal Regulations Title 16 - Commercial Practices |date=1 January 1998 |page=181 |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-1998-title16-vol1/pdf/CFR-1998-title16-vol1-sec243-2.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=African Mahogany |url=https://www.wood-database.com/african-mahogany/ |website=The Wood Database |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> The timber from both "African mahoganies" and "Philippine mahoganies" as defined by the FTC, are very close in terms of appearance and properties to true mahoganies.<ref name="Meier-2008">{{cite web |last1=Meier |first1=Eric |title=Mahogany Mixups: the Lowdown |url=https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/mahogany-mixups-the-lowdown/ |website=The Wood Database |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> No other species are allowed to be sold in the United States under the name "mahogany", aside from the three ''Swietenia'' species and the aforementioned exceptions.<ref name="USFTC-1998"/>

Within the mahogany family, other closely-related members of other genera which also resemble mahoganies in terms of appearance and properties are also sometimes known as "mahoganies", though they can not be sold as such in the US timber trade.<ref name="Meier-2008"/> This includes some members of the genus ''[[Toona]]'', namely: "Philippine mahogany" (''[[Toona calantas]]'', different from the above usage);<ref name="ASEAN"/> "Indian mahogany" (''[[Toona ciliata]]'');<ref name="India Biodiversity Portal">{{cite web|url=http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/31866|title=''Toona ciliata'' Roem.|publisher=India Biodiversity Portal|access-date=December 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019125853/http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/31866|archive-date=October 19, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> "Chinese mahogany" (''[[Toona sinensis]]'');<ref>Christophe Wiart, ''Medicinal Plants of Asia and the Pacific'' (CRC Press, 2006), {{ISBN|9780429125263}} p. 203; Zhuge Ren & Clem Tisdell, ''China's Economic Growth and Transition: Macroeconomic, Environmental and Social-Regional Dimensions'' (Nova Publishers 1997, eds. C. Clement Allan Tisdell & Joseph C. H. Chai), {{ISBN|978-1-56072-530-5}} p. 338.</ref> and Indonesian mahogany (''[[Toona sureni]]'');.<ref name="Porcher-2005">{{cite web|url=http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Toona.html|title=Sorting ''Toona'' names|author=Michel H. Porcher|date=October 7, 2005|work=Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database|publisher=The University of Melbourne|access-date=December 13, 2013|archive-date=June 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604004819/https://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Toona.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="GRIN">{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?12192 |title=GRIN Species Records of ''Toona'' |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |access-date=2011-04-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924075504/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?12192 |archive-date=2015-09-24 }}</ref> However members of this genus are more usually known as "toons" or "red cedars."<ref name="ASEAN">{{cite web|url=http://211.114.21.20/tropicalplant/html/print.jsp?rno=193|title=''Toona calantas'' Merr. & Rolfe|author=ASEAN Tropical Plant Database|publisher=National Institute of Environmental Research, Republic of Korea|access-date=December 12, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131211195714/http://211.114.21.20/tropicalplant/html/print.jsp?rno=193|archive-date=December 11, 2013}}</ref> They have similar properties to true mahoganies but differ in appearance.<ref name="Meier-2008"/> Other species in the same family sometimes known as "mahoganies" include "Indian mahogany" (''[[Chukrasia velutina]]'', different from ''T. ciliata''); "sipo mahogany" (''[[Entandrophragma utile]]''); "sapele mahogany" (''[[Entandrophragma cylindricum]]'');<ref name="Bridgewater-2012"/><ref name="Meier-2008"/> "royal mahogany" (''[[Carapa guianensis]]''); "white mahogany" (''[[Turraeanthus africanus]]'');<ref name="Meier-2008"/> "[[New Zealand]] mahogany" (''[[Dysoxylum spectabile]]'');<ref>Julian Matthews, ''Trees in New Zealand'' (Lansdowne Press, 1983), p. 72; Eion Scarrow, ''New Zealand Native Trees and Shrubs'' (TVNZ, 1986), {{ISBN|9780868660745}} p. 16.</ref> "pink mahogany" (''[[Guarea]]'' spp.); and "demerara mahogany" (''[[Carapa guianensis]]'').<ref>{{cite web |title=''Carapa guianensis'' Aubl. |url=https://www.nparks.gov.sg/florafaunaweb/flora/2/7/2784 |website=Flora and Fauna Web |publisher=National Parks Singapore |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref name="Bridgewater-2012"/>

Multiple other unrelated species are also known as "mahogany". These include the aforementioned ''[[Shorea]]'' species which does actually come close to true mahogany in terms of appearance and properties. But it also includes other species which do not resemble true mahogany at all and have very different wood properties, like the "Santos mahogany" (''[[Myroxylon balsamum]]''), "mountain mahogany" (''[[Cercocarpus]]'' spp.), and "swamp mahogany" (''[[Eucalyptus robusta]]'').<ref name="Meier-2008"/>