Thread: African Mahogany - a possible plantation timber for tropical Australia

I'm pretty sure that someone is already doing this in West Oz. An acquaintance was doing his new floors with 2" wide mahogany boards that he said came from plantation thinings.

Another thing to watchout for is how good the timber from the Darwin trees is - I know that there are a lot of Eucalupts grown in California that end up as firewood because they grow very fast but the timber is s**t - relatively soft and pourous.

I don't think there is any problem about the timber quality of the Darwin mahoganies. I felled one in my yard there and kept some logs for some time; the timber was hard and solid. My only concern is about the colour of the heartwood, which is brownish rather than the reddish colour of the true African mahogany (Khaya ivorensis). I am not certain whether the Darwin trees actually belong to that species or not.

as with most trees, the climate and growth rate will effect the timber, as will many other factors. the trees growing in places other than Africa shouldn't be inferior, but may look different to what we are normally used to in some way. these differences may lessen the timber's appeal to buyers.

if i was going to grow these trees as a future investment, i would try to copy the African growing conditions as closely as possible. this would demand quite a considerable investment of both time and money as there are so many variables to consider. it's not worth doing if in 15-20 years time you find out that they are worthless. but get it right, and it would certainly pay off.

i often wonder why more "cabinet timber" tree species aren't grown in plantations, i would like to think that there will be timber, other than pine, for my son to work with when he grows up.