There are two rather distinct kinds of this tree - the Honduras, growing in Central America, and the Spanish,flourishing in Cuba.

A slightly varied kind of the latter is from Hayti and the Bahamas.

Honduras Mahogany is of a rich reddish-brown colour, with a lustrous golden shade. Inferior kinds are paler in colour and looser fibred than the best quality.

The annual ring is visible, but there is no great difference between the spring and autumn wood. The pores are very evenly scattered and prominent, the medullary ray is not visible.

The timber shrinks and warps but slightly, and holds glue probably better than any other wood. These qualities, added to its good colour and durability in dry situations, make it very useful to cabinet-makers, pattern-makers, and other woodworkers.

It soon decays in wet places, and is not therefore suited to outdoor work.

The commoner kinds are light coloured and soft, sometimes as soft as pine, especially in the timber grown in the swampy country along the coast of Honduras. This is called the Bay Mahogany. The grey patches which occur in planks of mahogany are the effects of wet rot in the living tree. This wood is unsound, containing the germs of dry rot, and should be rejected.

Mexican Mahogany is, generally speaking, larger and more figured than Honduras, but is bad at the heart, possibly through overgrowth. It is more liable to twist and warp and frequently has heart shakes.