page_title: Dalbergia sissoo
section_title: Timber
hierarchical_section_title: Dalbergia sissoo / Uses / Timber
caption_attribution_description: English: Table surface made of Sheesham Wood Deutsch: Tischplatte aus Sheesham-Holz
context_page_description: Dalbergia sissoo, known commonly as North Indian rosewood, is a fast-growing, hardy deciduous rosewood tree native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southern Iran. D. Sissoo is a large, crooked tree with long, leathery leaves and whitish or pink flowers.
context_section_description: Shisham is the best known economic timber species of the rosewood genus sold internationally, but it is also used as fuel wood and for shade and shelter.  After teak, it is the most important cultivated timber tree of Bihar, which is the largest producer of shisham timber in India. In Bihar, the tree is planted on roadsides, along canals and as a shade tree for tea plantations. It is also commonly planted in southern Indian cities like Bangalore as a street tree.
  Sheesham is usually dried before being used in furniture manufacturing, a process commonly known as seasoning. Locally sheesham is left in wide open areas to dry under the sun for about six months. Commercially, sheesham is dried in closed chambers with hot air circulation for about seven to fifteen days, depending on weather conditions. The ideal moisture level is supposed to be 5-6% for thinner pieces and up to 11% for thicker ones, depending on use. Anything lower than this can cause sudden cracking of the final products.
  Sheesham is among the finest cabinet and veneer timbers. It is the wood from which 'mridanga', the Rajasthani percussion instrument, is often made. In addition to musical instruments, it is used for plywood, agricultural tools, flooring, and as a bentwood, and for turning.
  The heartwood is golden to dark brown; the sapwood is white to pale brownish white. The heartwood is durable (the specific gravity is 0.7 – 0.8) and is very resistant to fungi; but the sapwood is readily attacked by dry-wood termites and borers.  Dalbergia sissoo is known to contain the neoflavonoid dalbergichromene in its stem-bark and heartwood.
caption: Sheesham wood
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