Rosewood is any of a number of richly hued hardwoods, often brownish with darker veining, but found in other colours. It is hard, tough, strong, and dense. True rosewoods come from trees of the genus Dalbergia, but other woods are often called rosewood. Rosewood takes a high polish and is used for luxury furniture-making, flooring, musical instruments, and turnery.
A classic rosewood surface (Dalbergia nigra)
Chess pieces in Dalbergia latifolia rosewood
A Ming Dynasty rosewood wardrobe, 16th century.
Back of guitar made with East Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)
Dalbergia is a large genus of small to medium-size trees, shrubs and lianas in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Dalbergia clade : the Dalbergieae. The genus has a wide distribution, native to the tropical regions of Central and South America, Africa, Madagascar and southern Asia.
Spines of D. armata
Trunk of D. lanceolaria
Flowers of D. lanceolaria
Pods of D. lanceolaria