Paubrasilia and Schwartzia

C

CelloBonsai

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So a random question. I am a cellist, and the bows I use are made of wood from Brazilwood trees (Paubrasilia echinata) and Ironwood (Schwartzia of some kind). Does anyone have a bonsai of either of those species?
 
Forsoothe! said:
You keep the Hell away from us...
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???

Not sure what this was about.......

Regardless, I don't own any Brazilwood, but I do have five Brazillian ironwoods. However the ironwoods are Libidibia ferrea... aka pau ferro. Schwartzia is a huge genus - with over 350,000 species, but not one of the species has a common name that includes "ironwood". Perhaps you meant Swartzia? There is a Swartzia panacoco that is known as Brazillian ebony(?)
 
Bonsai Nut said:
???

Not sure what this was about.......

Regardless, I don't own any Brazilwood, but I do have five Brazillian ironwoods. However the ironwoods are Libidibia ferrea... aka pau ferro. Schwartzia is a huge genus - with over 350,000 species, but not one of the species has a common name that includes "ironwood". Perhaps you meant Swartzia? There is a Swartzia panacoco that is known as Brazillian ebony(?)
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You could be right that the bontanical name is Swartzia instead of Schwartzia. The wood is almost pitch black with red streaks in my bow, so I could definitely see it being referred to as ebony.

I am just curious if those those trees are common bonsai and if anyone perhaps has pictures. I'm fascinated when two art forms use the same materials.
 
Forsoothe! said:
What characteristics should the wood in a bow have?
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Straight grain, strength, and elasticity are the primary determining factors as to whether a wood will be good for a bow. Not necessarily the same as in bonsai!
 
CelloBonsai said:
You could be right that the bontanical name is Swartzia instead of Schwartzia. The wood is almost pitch black with red streaks in my bow, so I could definitely see it being referred to as ebony.

I am just curious if those those trees are common bonsai and if anyone perhaps has pictures. I'm fascinated when two art forms use the same materials.
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We have several members who live in the area. One of them, @Anthony, was the source of my Brazillian ironwoods.

The Swartzia genus doesn't include many trees, and there is very little written about them, but several of them were called "ironwoods". The tree I was referring to - Brazillian ebony - apparently isn't very large, so that the wood, which is striped and ornamental, cannot be used for many purposes. But a bow uses so little, I could see it working.

The Brazillian ironwoods I have are just seedlings - Anthony sent me seeds about three years ago. They remind me a lot of Brazillian rain tree, with similar growth habit and small compound leaves.

libidia.jpg

(An example of panacoco wood)
panacoco.jpg
 
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Bonsai Nut said:
We have several members who live in the area. One of them, @Anthony, was the source of my Brazillian ironwoods.

The Swartzia genus doesn't include many trees, and there is very little written about them, but several of them were called "ironwoods". The tree I was referring to - Brazillian ebony - apparently isn't very large, so that the wood, which is striped and ornamental, cannot be used for many purposes. But a bow uses so little, I could see it working.

The Brazillian ironwoods I have are just seedlings - Anthony sent me seeds about three years ago. They remind me a lot of Brazillian rain tree, with similar growth habit and small compound leaves.
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Thank you for sharing! I am just beginning my bonsai interest. I assume these trees have wood that is very dense and stiff. My "ironwood" bow is from around the 1850s and still has not broken or warped. That is always a good sign.

I see your reference to Brazillian rain tree. The picture definitely looks similar!
 
These tropical hardwoods can be very beautiful - if you can care for them in the (mostly) cold US.

True mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni) is a Florida native, but most people wouldn't know it if it bit them in the butt :) We've had other discussion about this on the site, but the vast majority of "mahagony" wood you see for sale isn't even in the mahagony genus. True mahagony hasn't been harvested since 1950 (most of it came from Cuba) and big leaf mahagony (a closely related species) has been on the endangered species list since 2003. If you see any furniture that someone claims is made from mahagony and it isn't at least 70 years old, be extremely skeptical.

Another interesting American native is Texas ebony, which has a very interesting hexagonal growth pattern that reminds me of organic chemistry :) I believe Texas ebony has the third hardest wood in North America, just behind desert ironwood (which isn't a true ironwood).

The tree with the hardest wood in the US is black ironwood - another Florida native. Generally speaking, the tree is too small to be commercially harvested for lumber... except for smaller projects.

I have a Texas ebony, and I think it is suitable for bonsai due to the interesting growth habit and small leaves. I don't know about black ironwood... and desert ironwood is from the Sonoran desert and is more of a desert shrub than anything.
 
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Bonsai Nut said:
These tropical hardwoods can be very beautiful - if you can care for them in the (mostly) cold US.

True mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni) is a Florida native, but most people wouldn't know it if it bit them in the butt :) We've had other discussion about this on the site, but the vast majority of "mahagony" wood you see for sale isn't even in the mahagony genus. True mahagony hasn't been harvested since 1950 (most of it came from Cuba) and big leaf mahagony (a closely related species) has been on the endangered species list since 2003. If you see any furniture that someone claims is made from mahagony and it isn't at least 70 years old, be extremely skeptical.

Another interesting American native is Texas ebony, which has a very interesting hexagonal growth pattern that reminds me of organic chemistry :) I believe Texas ebony has the third hardest wood in North America, just behind desert ironwood (which isn't a true ironwood).

The tree with the hardest wood in the US is black ironwood - another Florida native. Generally speaking, the tree is too small to be commercially harvested for lumber... except for smaller projects.

I have a Texas ebony, and I think it is suitable for bonsai due to the interesting growth habit and small leaves. I don't know about black ironwood... and desert ironwood is from the Sonoran desert and is more of a desert shrub than anything.
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Thank you! I'm learning more every day.
 
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