X-Nico

4 unusual facts about Swietenia


Coat of arms of Belize

Within the circle is a mahogany tree, in front of which is a shield tierced per pall inverted.

Swietenia

International environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and Rainforest Action Network have focused on Swietenia so as to expose illegal traffic in the wood, notably from Brazil.

These days almost all mahogany is yielded by the mainland species, Swietenia macrophylla although no longer from its native locations due to the restrictions set by CITES (see following.)

As a timber, both Swietenia macrophylla and Swietenia mahogoni are both grown in plantations in several Asian countries such as Fiji, Indonesia, India, and Bangladesh and this plantation mahogany timber is the main source of the world's current supply of "genuine mahogany", due to cultivation and trade of it in its native locations being restricted by the Convention On International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna CITES since the late 1990s.


Canella

It generally grows under the shade of larger trees in dense forests composed of Sideroxylon, Lysiloma, Swietenia, Bursera, Hypelate, Dipholis, and Nectandra.


see also