| | CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification and information retrieval |
Nomenclature. Family: FABACEAE-FABOIDEAE. Other trade relevant species: Both species are traded as "cocobolo", they cannot be distinguished from each other as regards colour, weight and macro structure. Based on a review of the records in the National Herbarium (MEXU) of the Instituto de Biología de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (IBUNAM), the experts determined that D. retusa is not distributed naturally in Mexico. Specifically, the specimens identified as D. retusa in Mexico from this collection have been misidentified and in reality are specimens of Dalbergia granadillo; the on-line records for D. retusa (e.g. Trópicos) relate to introduced specimens. Synonym(s): Dalbergia retusa: D. hypoleuca Pittier; D. lineata Pittier; D. pacifica Standley & Steyermark. Dalbergia granadillo: Amerimnon granadillo Standl. Further trade and local names: granadillo (GT, HN, MX, NI); ñambar, ñambar legítimo (CR, NI); tampizarán (MX); palo negro (HN); palisandro (CO); Nicaragua rosewood (GB); granadillo morado (ES). Code according to DIN EN 13556: DLRT.
CITES(EU) status of protection. Listed in Annex II(B) (D. granadillo is also on the list of Mexico’s endangered species (Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010), which means that their management and exploitation are regulated by the provisions of the "Ley General de Vida Silvestre" (LGVS, 2000) (General Wildlife Act)).
Geographic distribution. Mexico and Central America. Dalbergia retusa: N-Columbia to SW-Guatemala; Dalbergia granadillo: Pacific watershed of México (Tabasco to Nayarit).
Growth rings, colour, grain, etc. Growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent. Heartwood basically brown to yellow (yellowish to orange brown when fresh, darkening to deep reddish brown); with streaks (dark brown to purplish black). Sapwood distinct from heartwood colour. Odour distinct (aromatic sweetish when freshly cut). Wood heavy and hard (0.89–1.05–1.20 g/cm3). Surface oily. Interlocked grain occasionally present, or absent.
Hardwood vs softwood. Vessels (pores) present (= hardwood).
Vessels (pores). Wood diffuse-porous. Vessels (pores) in multiples; commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows. Vessels of rather different size and unevenly distributed over the cross section. Vessels medium to large (80–320 µm); very few (3–6). Tyloses absent. Other deposits in heartwood vessels (pores) present.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma present (visible usually only in the light coloured sapwood), or not visible; banded and not banded. Parenchyma bands exclusively marginal (or seemingly marginal); narrow. With a hand lens, the marginal bands are still recognizable, but the fine lines of the diffuse-in aggregates parenchyma are difficult to recognize. Other macroscopically visible types of axial parenchyma: diffuse-in-aggregates (predominantly zonate as short fine lines between rays).
Rays. Rays narrow. Large rays commonly less than 1 mm high.
Storied structure. Storied structure present. Tiers regular (horizontal or slightly inclined); 5–6 per axial millimetre.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood not fluorescent. Water extract fluorescent (pale greenish blue); colour shade of water extract colourless to brown, or red, or yellow. Heartwood extractives leaching out when in contact with water. Ethanol extract fluorescent (light orange); colour shade of ethanol extract colourless to brown (dark copper brown). Froth test positive. Splinter burns to full ash; colour of ash white to grey. As regards these physical-chemical properties, Dalbergia granadillo yields results identical to those obtained for D. retusa; even based on this set of properties, the two species cannot be differentiated.
Additional information. • D. retusa: Transverse section + wood surface. Transverse section ca. 10x. Tangential surface (normal and variegated), natural size. Dalbergia retusa (Cocobolo). for comparison with Dalbergia granadillo see the following image. • D. granadillo: Transverse section + wood surface. Transverse section ca. 10x. Tangential surface (variegated), natural size. Dalbergia granadillo (Cocobolo, tampinzarán) - CITES II.
The interactive key allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, and geographical distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘Richter, H.G., Gembruch, K., and Koch, G. 2014 onwards. CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, and Spanish. Version: 4th April 2023. www.delta-intkey.com’.
