Mahogany Sapeli
Wood description: The crossgrain that usually occurs in sapeli causes the quarter stripe pattern of alternating dark and light bands that is so characteristic of this African mahogany. The distance between these bands is often very regular (which distinguishes sapeli from sipo) and varies from very narrow (often with Nigeria sapeli) to quite wide (e.g. with aboudikro). Deviations in the grain direction sometimes result in beautiful figurations that are known by their names, such as ornamented, appliquéd, draped and so on.
Botanical name: Entandrophragma cylindricum.
Growth area: West and Central Africa