Honduras Rosewood

Color/Appearance: Heartwood color can range from a deep brownish-purple to a light-brown. Most common is a brownish-mauve color. Clearly demarcated sapwood is a pale yellow.

Grain/Texture: Grain is usually straight or slightly interlocked. Fine to medium texture, with good natural luster.

Endgrain: Semi-ring-porous to diffuse-porous; medium to very large pores, very few to few; solitary and radial multiples; heartwood deposits (reddish brown and dark brown) common; parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates, vasicentric, and banded; rays narrow, normal to fairly close spacing.

Rot Resistance: Rated as very durable, with moderate insect resistance.

Workability: Can be somewhat difficult to machine, and tends to ride over jointer blades, and has a moderate blunting effect on cutting edges. Because of its high oil content, gluing can be problematic, and the wood’s color can bleed into surrounding wood when applying a finish. Turns well.

Odor: Has a distinct smell when being worked.

Allergies/Toxicity: Reported as a sensitizer; can cause skin, eye, and respirator irritation. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

Pricing/Availability: Diminishing availability, though still seen in both lumber and turning blank form. Prices are in the mid to upper range for an imported hardwood.

Sustainability: Although Honduran Rosewood is not evaluated on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, it is listed on CITES appendix II under the genus-wide restriction on all Dalbergia species—which also includes finished products made of the wood. 

Common Uses: Fine furniture, musical instruments, veneer, turned and other specialty wood objects.