SWIETENIA, in botany,. lnahogany tree, so named, in honour of the illustri ous Gerard, L. B. a Swieten, archiater to Maria Teresa, Empress of Germany, a genus of the Decandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of TrihilatEe.
Jussieu. Essential character : ca lyx five-cleft ; petals five, nectary cylin dric, bearing the anthers at the mouth ; capsules five-celled, woody, opening at the base; seeds imbricate, winged. There are three species. The S. mahogany, mahogany tree, is very lofty, and spread ing with a wide handsome head ; leaves reclining, alternate, shining, eight inch es long, numerous on the younger branch es ; leaflets mostly in four pairs, quite entire, acuminate, bent in backwards, petioled, opposite, an inch and half long; recemes sub-corymbed, with about eight flowers in each; axillary, solitary, two inches long ; flowers small, whitish. The mahogany tree is a native of 'the warmest parts of America, and grows plentifully in the islands of Cuba, Jamaica, and His paniola ; in these islands the tree grows to a very large size, so as to cut into planks of six feet breadth : those on the Ilahama Islands are not so large ; these, however, are frequently four feet in di ameter, and rising to a great height, not withstanding they are generally found on the solid rock, where there seems to be scarcely any earth for their nourishment.
The wood brought from the Bahama Isl ands has usually passed under the name of Madeira wood ; this the Spaniards make great use of for building ships ; it is better adapted to this purpose than most sorts of wood yet known, being ve ry durable, resisting gun shots, and bu rying the shot without splintering. The excellency of this wood for all domestic purposes, has been long known in Eng land.