 East Indian Rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)
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Common Name(s): East Indian Rosewood, Indian Rosewood Scientific Name: Dalbergia latifolia Distribution: India Tree Size: 100 ft (30 m) tall, 2-4 ft (.6-1.2 m) trunk diameter Average Dried Weight: 57 lbs/ft3 (920 kg/m3) Hardness: 3,170 lbf (14,100 N) Rupture Strength: 16,900 lbf/in2 (116,550 kPa) Elastic Strength: 1,780,000 lbf/in2 (12,280 MPa) Crushing Strength: 7,780 lbf/in2 (53.7 MPa) Shrinkage: Radial: 2.7%, Tangential: 5.8%, Volumetric: 8.5%, T/R Ratio: 2.1 |
Color/Appearance: Heartwood of East Indian Rosewood can vary from a golden brown to a deep purplish brown, with darker brown streaks. The wood darkens with age, usually becoming a deep brown.
Grain/Pore: Has a medium texture and fairly small pores. The grain is usually narrowly interlocked.
Endgrain: Diffuse-porous; large pores in no specific arrangement; solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; heartwood deposits occasionally present; growth rings indistinct; rays not visible without lens; parenchyma banded, paratracheal parenchyma vasicentric, aliform (lozenge and winged), and confluent.
Durability: Rated as very durable and resistant to termite attack.
Workability: East Indian Rosewood can be difficult to work with tools because of its interlocked grain and density. The wood can sometimes contain chalky deposits that will rapidly dull cutting edges. Glues and finishes well, though color from the wood’s natural resins can inadvertently bleed onto surrounding surfaces when applying a finish, so care must be taken on the initial seal coats.
Scent: Has a distinct, rose-like scent when being worked; some find its scent less pleasant than other Dalbergia rosewoods.
Safety: Although severe reactions are somewhat uncommon, East Indian Rosewood has been reported as a sensitizer. Usually the most common reaction is skin irritation. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.
Price/Availability: Likely to be quite expensive, its price should be comparable to other similar rosewoods such as Honduran Rosewood.
Comments: East Indian Rosewood has been used extensively on acoustic guitars since the mid 1960s as a substitute for the now-endangered Brazilian Rosewood.
East Indian Rosewood is commonly used for fine furniture, musical instruments, veneer, turned and other specialty wood objects.
- African Blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon)
- Brazilian Rosewood (Dalbergia nigra)
- Burmese Rosewood (Dalbergia oliveri)
- Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa)
- Honduran Rosewood (Dalbergia stevensonii)
- Kingwood (Dalbergia cearensis)
- Madagascar Rosewood (Dalbergia baronii)
- Sissoo (Dalbergia sissoo)
- Tulipwood (Dalbergia decipularis)
Scans/Pictures: A special thanks to Steve Earis for providing the wood sample (endgrain) and turned photo of this wood species.
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East Indian Rosewood (sanded) |
 East Indian Rosewood (sealed) |
 East Indian Rosewood (endgrain) |
 East Indian Rosewood (endgrain 10x) |
 East Indian Rosewood (turned) |
February 21st, 2011 at 1:39 pm
I unearthed some East Indian Rosewood Veneer while working in a face veneer company that had gone out of business years ago. I found two flitches. One had 1,863 sq. ft. in it and the other had 4,253′ in it. The flitches have furniture lengths and widths from 8-24″. The color is a dark purple with some light brown stripes in some of it. The thickness of these two flitches is .9mm or .035. which is unheard of today. Quite a find.