Satinwood

== Description ==
1) A silky, golden-color wood obtained from the deciduous satinwood tree, Chloroxylon swietenia, native to India, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and the East Indies. Satinwood timber has a fine interlocked grain with a uniform texture. Quarter sawn pieces have a narrow stripe figuring. The durable wood is used for furniture, veneer, cabinetry, turnery and small articles. Populations are in decline due to exploitation.
2) A lustrous, dark yellow wood from the evergreen satinwood tree, Zanthoxylum flavum (South America, the Caribbean islands, and Africa). This oily timber has a close, irregular grain, smells like coconut and polishes to a high gloss. This satinwood is used for similar applications as East Indian satinwood. This species is also threatened due to habitat loss and excess harveting.
== Synonyms and Related Terms ==
1: Chloroxylon swietenia; Ceylon satinwood; flowered satinwood; East Indian satinwood
2: Zanthoxylum flavum; Brazilian satinwood; West Indian satinwood; tembetaria; concha satinwood; African satinwood; yellow sander; yellowood; yellow wood; yellow heart; yellow sandalwood
==Risks==
The wood is susceptible to insect attack, especially from termites, borers, and beetles.
==Physical and Chemical Properties==
1) Small deciduous trees, height = 18-25 m. Bark is yellowish, rough and corky. Leaves alternate, pinnately compound with 20-40 leaflets. White flowers are bisexual and small (5 mm long). Fruit appears as an ellipsoid capsule 2.5-3 cm. The wood has a pleasant fragrance when freshly cut. Essential oil from the leaves contains terpenes that repel mosquitos.
2) Small deciduous trees, height 6-9 m. The pinnately compound leaves have 5-11 leaflets. Small, yellow, fragrant flowers occur in clusters followed by green berries. 
General info: Density = 50-60 ppcf
==Working Properties==
1) Wood is cream-colored darkening to brown with age. Texture is fine and even and remarkably lustrous. The strong, hard wood is difficult to work with hand tools and can blunt cutting tools.
== Additional Images ==
File:Brazilian_satinwood.jpg|Brazilian satinwood (Sateema) (Euxylophora paraensis)
File:E.Indian_satinwood.jpg|East Indian satinwood (Chloroxylon swietenia)
File:csatinwoodwc.jpg|Ceylon satinwood (Chloroxylon swietenia)
File:asatinwoodwc.jpg|African satinwood (Zanthoxylum flavum)
==Resources and Citations==
* Plant use: [link]
* G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 381
* Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)
* F. H. Titmuss, Commercial Timbers of the World, The Technical Press Ltd., London, 1965 Comment: 50-60 ppcf
* Michael McCann, Artist Beware, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York City, 1979
* George Savage, Art and Antique Restorer's Handbook, Rockliff Publishing Corp, London, 1954
* Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996
* Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
* The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
* CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, Robert Weast (ed.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, v. 61, 1980 Comment: density=59 ppcf (0.95 g/cm3)
Category:Materials databaseCategory:MWGCategory: Wood