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.
A timeless, classic American wood that is used in furniture, flooring, cabinetry, joinery, and architectural millwork is red oak. The sapwood of red oak ranges from white to very light brown, while the heartwood is reddish-brown.
Teak Iroko is golden-orange to brown; lighter vessel lines are conspicuous on flat saw surfaces. The material may contain large, hard deposits of calcium carbonate in cavities, and the timber around them may be darker in colour. The grain is interlocked and sometimes irregular, and the texture rather coarse, but even, figure mottled. The wood is somewhat greasy and is odourless. Iroko is a highly valued commercial timber in Africa, for which demand is large.
