African Mahogany is pink when freshly cut, darkening to a reddish-brown colour with pale golden-brown zones on exposure. The sapwood is yellowish-brown in colour and is up to 2 in. (51 mm) in width, and it is not always distinctly demarcated from the heartwood. The grain is sometimes straight, but generally interlocked, giving a characteristic stripe figure in quarter sawn stock. The texture is medium to coarse, but even. It has no distinct taste or odour. The planed surface is lustrous. Growth rings are fairly distinct to the naked eye due to the presence of terminal parenchyma.
