Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq.

  • Authority

    Pennington, Terence D. 1981. Meliaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 28: 1-359, 418-449, 459-470. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Meliaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq.

  • Type

    Type. Tab. 81, Catesby (ed. Edwards), Nat. Hist. Carolina 2: 81. 1754.

  • Synonyms

    Swietenia mahogoni Lam., Swietenia fabrilis Salisb., Swietenia acutifolia Stokes, Swietenia mahogani C.DC., Swietenia mahagoni var. praecociflora Hemsl., Cedrus mahogani Mill., Cedrela mahagoni L.

  • Description

    Species Description - Young twigs and branchlets glabrous, very thin and slender, pale reddish-brown with abundant raised lenticels; scales surrounding buds prominent, brownish-black, acute. Leaves clustered, paripinnate (exceptionally imparipinnate), (10-) 12-15(-28) cm long; rhachis very slender, glabrous. Leaflets opposite or subopposite, with very slender petiolules to 1.0 cm long, 2-4(-5) pairs, usually ovate-lanceolate to elliptic-ovate, sometimes falcate, apex acute, cuspidate or very short acuminate, base broadly rounded or cuneate, markedly asymmetrical, chartaceous, bright shining lime-green, (4-)5-6(-8.0) cm long, (1.5-)2.5-3.0(-3.25) cm broad, upper and lower surfaces glabrous; venation reticulate, secondary and tertiary nervation raised and very prominent on both surfaces. Flowers unisexual, sexes very similar; inflorescence slender, axillary or subterminal, (5-)8-15(-18) cm long, shorter than or as long as leaves, suberect or spreading, glabrous. Flowers with pedicels 1.5-3.0 mm long. Calyx 5-lobed to about middle, lobes subcircular or broadly rounded, 0.8-1.5 mm long, glabrous, margin not ciliolate. Petals 5, free, imbricate or contorted in bud, (3-)3.5-4.5 mm long, 2-2.5 mm broad, oblong to oblong-ovate, glabrous, not ciliolate. Staminal tube urceolate or cylindrical, constricted at throat, (2.5-)3-4 mm long, terminated by 10, narrowly deltoid or deltate-acuminate appendages, glabrous inside and out; anthers or antherodes 10, sessile, included within staminal tube. Nectary annular or patelliform, margin crenulate or ribbed, glabrous. Ovary in 2 flowers ± globose, (4-)5-locular, loculi with (10-) 12-14(-16) ovules, glabrous; style very short ca. 1 mm long; style-head discoid, glandular with stigmatic lobes. Pistillode in 6 flowers very slender, columnar, slightly expanded at base; style ca. 1.5-2 mm long, with well-developed loculi but rudimentary ovules; style-head discoid, thin. Capsule erect, ovoid or subspheroid, apex rounded, dark brown or blackish, minutely verrucose and lenticellate, (4.5-)6-10 cm long, 3-6 cm diam., (4-)5-valved, outer valves woody, 4-5 mm thick, inner valves thin, brownish. Seeds rich chestnut-brown, (2-)4-5(-6) cm long including wing. Embryo with cotyledons thin. Field characters. A deciduous timber tree up to 20 m tall with a short bole and small spherical crown. It frequently occurs as a much-branched bush or shrub. Trees in plantations have reached 30 m in height and large specimens develop very short blunt buttresses. Bark on young trees is smooth, greyish, shallowly fissured; reddish-brown and scaly on older trees. The flowers are very similar in structure and colour to those of S. macrophylla, but rather smaller. Flowering occurs on the Caribbean Islands during April, May, June and July though sporadically at other times. Fruits mature 8-10 months later.

  • Discussion

    Swietenia mahagoni is now much grown as a forest crop and as a street or shade tree throughout the tropics. Although it is the most famous and was the first of the true mahoganies to appear on the European timber market, indigenous stands of the best trees have been almost completely exhausted. Indeed in most areas this once famous tree now occurs as little more than a much-branched bush or small tree, a prime example of extreme genetic erosion due to past over exploitation of the best genotypes. On some islands it is even regarded as a weed species. The beautiful lustre, colour and close graining (figure) of the wood makes it perhaps the most attractive of all world timbers and outstanding for cabinet work. It takes an excellent polish. Small quantities of timber from plantation grown trees are occasionally available on the international market.

    Distribution and Ecology: Naturally distributed from S Florida throughout the Keys, the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica and Hispaniola. Introduced into Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Lesser Antilles, Trinidad, Tobago and some other Caribbean islands. Occurring from sea level up to 800 m alt. (Jamaica). The species is characteristic of the hummock vegetation of southern Florida, and on the Caribbean islands it is a constituent of what now remains of the subtropical dry or moist forest, often on limestone. On many Caribbean islands and in Florida it has been planted or has escaped from cultivation so that its original area of distribution is extremely difficult to ascertain.

  • Common Names

    Small leaved, West Indian, Spanish mahogany, Cuban mahogany, caoba, Madeira, Coabilla, Coaba dominicana, Acajou, Mahok, Mahoni

  • Distribution

    United States of America North America| Florida United States of America North America| Bahamas South America| Turks and Caicos Islands South America| Cat Island Bahamas South America| Exuma Bahamas South America| South Andros Bahamas South America| Central Eleuthera Bahamas South America| New Providence Bahamas South America| Cuba South America| Camagüey Cuba South America| Isla de la Juventud Cuba South America| Piñar del Río Cuba South America| Cayman Islands South America| Jamaica South America| Haiti South America| Dominican Republic South America| Distrito Nacional Dominican Republic South America| Azua Dominican Republic South America| San Juan Dominican Republic South America| Samaná Dominican Republic South America| Monte Cristi Dominican Republic South America| Puerto Rico South America| Virgin Islands South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Guadeloupe South America| Montserrat South America| Antigua and Barbuda South America| Grenada South America| Barbados South America| Saint Lucia South America| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America| Martinique South America|