The beech-timbers of commerce are the woods of Fagus syl vatica and F. americana in Europe and North America respec tively. The latter shows a distinction into white sap-wood and reddish heart-wood, but not so the former which is of uniform reddish white. Being perishable out of doors beech-wood is mainly made into articles used indoors, including furniture.
In addition to the softwoods enumerated a number of scented hardwoods from various countries are termed cedars : of these the most familiar is the tropical American cedar (Cedrela odorata) used in the manufacture of cigar-boxes and boards of boats.
Very similar to the timbers of ordinary oaks are those of the true chestnuts, Castanea vesca of Europe and C. dentata of North America, but these lack wide medullary rays and consequently display no striking "silver grain." Species of Diospyros growing in tropical Asia and Africa supply the black ebonies of commerce. The black of the heart-wood may be interrupted by patches of white (in Andaman marble wood) or brown (in salamander wood). The Japanese and North American persimmon woods belong to species of Diospyros, and pieces of the latter have little or no black wood.
The commercial timbers are produced by several species of European and North American species of elm (Ulmus). They generally have heart-woods lasting well in permanent contact with water; the water-pipes of London in olden times were often made of hollowed trunks of elms.
Australia is the world's centre for the growth of eucalyptus trees, a number of which produce hard, heavy, strong timber of large dimensions, and include jarrah, karri, tallow-wood, and tuart.
Greenheart is a tropical South American wood, which is gen erally stated to be that of Nectandra Rodiaei, varies in colour from yellow-green to darker admixtures of colours. Resistant to shipworms it is used widely for piling in docks : for fishing rods it is pre-eminent.
Commercial hickory woods of good quality are produced by a number of species of Hicoria in the United States. These find much the same uses as ash, since they are tough, but being stiffer than ash they can be used for the shafts of golf-clubs.
The name mahogany is improperly given to a medley of woods which range from white to bluish red in colour and grow in various countries. The original mahogany was that of Swietenia
mahagoni growing in the West Indies : this species together with the allied S. macrophylla growing on the mainland of Central America supply true American mahogany. These reddish-brown woods shrink and warp but little, are durable, light and polish readily to yield beautiful decorative effects. Any other woods named mahogany should share these characters. Such is the case with West African mahoganies produced by certain species of Khaya (belonging to the same family, Meliaceae, as Swietenia), which are indistinguishable by most people from the American mahogany. The West African "Gaboon mahogany" is a wood belonging to trees (or a tree) of an entirely different family, and is not a mahogany: neither are any of the so-called mahoganies of India, Australia, the United States and South America.
Maples, including the European sycamore, belong to the genus Acer and yield white firm woods that have a silvery sheen. North America supplies maples used in block-floorings and the beautiful bird's eye maple used in furniture.
True oak timbers are produced by species of Quercus, which is a genus not growing south of the equator, and the commercially important ones are European, North American and Japanese in origin. The European timber is mainly derived from the wide spread Q. pedunculata and Q. sessiflora, and stands apart from the other commercial kinds in being the sole one that can be safely used alone in the construction of casks and barrels for the storage of beer, wines and spirits without causing deteriora tion of flavour of these. Great Britain produces a unique type, termed "brown oak," which is used in the manufacture of panel ling and furniture in Europe and North America. The European oak imported into England is known as Russian and as Austrian oak, when exported from Baltic ports and Fiume respectively. North American commercial oak timbers are produced by a larger number of species of Quercus belonging to two groups, the "white" and "red oaks," which contrast in structure and uses.