Dalbergia melanoxylon
Details Top
| Internal ID | UUID643fd70550802004025475 |
| Scientific name | Dalbergia melanoxylon |
| Authority | Guill. & Perr. |
| First published in | Fl. Seneg. Tent.: 227 (1832) |
General Uses Top
Suggest a correction!Common products:
African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon) is primarily used for fine turned and carved objects, especially woodwind instruments (clarinets, oboes, bagpipes, and related parts), where its combination of high density, fine and interlocked grain, and natural resistance to checking allows precise thin-walled machining and long-term dimensional stability under humidity change.
Industrial and craft applications:
The wood is valued for precision turning, carving, chess pieces, knife handles, brush backs, and similar high-wear, high-detail applications. Its working qualities are enabled by high density (approx. 1,100–1,300 kg/m³ at 12% MC), low tangential shrinkage (around 4.5–5.5%), and fine, interlocked grain that yields a uniform finish. Natural extractives increase decay resistance and dimensional stability, and the wood is generally rated durable to very durable in decay tests.
Wood and fiber:
In instrument making, specific properties are targeted: high specific gravity and strength-to-weight ratio for resonance; interlocked grain to resist checking; and low shrinkage to limit bore distortion. The wood takes a high polish and does not require surface coatings for functional performance. High extractive content can dull cutting edges, so proper tool selection and machining strategies are commonly used. The species is listed in CITES Appendix II; national and regional regulations (e.g., EU Wildlife Trade Regulations) govern export/import under non-detriment and legal-acquisition requirements.
Sustainability and sourcing:
African blackwood is subject to trade controls due to conservation concerns, with habitat and population issues reported in parts of its range. Specific instrument-market and conservation initiatives exist to support sustainable management, including collaboration between range states, instrument manufacturers, and conservation bodies. Compliance with CITES and applicable national timber and import rules is required.
Standards and regulation:
CITES Appendix II listings; EU Wildlife Trade Regulations; national timber and import regulations. Instrument parts fall under finished-goods exemptions in some jurisdictions, but documentary compliance remains mandatory.
Synonyms Top
| Scientific name | Authority | First published in |
|---|---|---|
| Amerimnon melanoxylon | (Guill. & Perr.) Kuntze | Revis. Gen. Pl.1: 159 (1891) |
| Amerimnon stocksii | (Benth.) Kuntze | Revis. Gen. Pl.1: 159 (1891) |
| Dalbergia stocksii | Benth. | J. Proc. Linn. Soc., Bot.4(Suppl.): 42 (1860) |
Common names Top
Add a new one! Suggest a correction!| Language | Common/alternative name |
|---|---|
| English | mozambique ebony |
| English | african blackwood |
| English | grenadilla |
| English | mpingo |
| Spanish | ébano de mozambique |
| Afrikaans | sebrahout |
| Arabic | ساسم أسود الخشب |
| Czech | mosambický eben |
| German | grenadill |
| French | ébène du mozambique |
| French | ébène du sénégal |
| French | grenadille d'afrique |
| French | grenadille du mozambique |
| Hausa | kokara |
| Hebrew | גרנדילה |
| Hebrew | סיסם אפריקאי |
| Hungarian | grenadilfa |
| Icelandic | afrískur svartviður |
| Japanese | アフリカン・ブラックウッド |
| Korean | 아프리칸흑단 |
| Dutch | m'pingo |
| Punjab | افریکن بلیکوڈ |
| Portuguese | mpingo |
| Russian | Дальбергия чернодревесная |
| Russian | Дальбергия меланоксилон |
| Swedish | grenadilla |
| Swahili | mpingo |
| Chinese | 东非黑黄檀 |
| Chinese | 乌木黄檀 |
| Chinese | 非洲黑木 |
| Chinese | 非洲黑木黃檀 |
| Chinese | 東非黑黃檀 |
| Chinese | 非洲黑木黄檀 |
Germination/Propagation Top
Suggest a correction or add new data!
No germination or propagation data was added yet.
Distribution (via POWO/KEW) Top
Legend for the distribution data:
- Doubtful data
- Extinct
- Introduced
- Native
-
Africa click to expand
-
East Tropical Africa
- Kenya
- Tanzania
- Uganda
-
Northeast Tropical Africa
- Chad
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Sudan
-
South Tropical Africa
- Angola
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
-
Southern Africa
- Botswana
- Caprivi Strip
- Namibia
- Northern Provinces
- Swaziland
-
West Tropical Africa
- Burkina
- Guinea
- Ivory Coast
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- Togo
-
West-central Tropical Africa
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Zaïre
-
East Tropical Africa
-
Asia-tropical click to expand
-
Indian Subcontinent
- Bangladesh
- India
- Sri Lanka
-
Indian Subcontinent
Links to other databases Top
Suggest others/fix!| Database | ID/link to page |
|---|---|
| World Flora Online | wfo-0000172325 |
| Tropicos | 13018022 |
| KEW | urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:490328-1 |
| The Plant List | ild-1852 |
| PFAF | Dalbergia melanoxylon |
| Open Tree Of Life | 152622 |
| NCBI Taxonomy | 114981 |
| IUCN Red List | 32504 |
| IPNI | 490328-1 |
| iNaturalist | 191296 |
| GBIF | 2968897 |
| Freebase | /m/03xh7b |
| EPPO | DAGME |
| EOL | 639762 |
| USDA GRIN | 405953 |
| Wikipedia | Dalbergia_melanoxylon |
Genomes (via NCBI) Top
No reference genome is available on NCBI yet. We are constantly monitoring for new data.
Scientific Literature Top
Below are displayed the latest 15 articles published in PMC (PubMed Central®) and other sources (DOI number only)!
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Phytochemical Profile Top
Add a new one!
Below are displayed the proven (via scientific papers) natural compounds!
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| Name | PubChem ID | Canonical SMILES | MW | Found in | Proof |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| > Benzenoids / Benzene and substituted derivatives / Benzophenones | |||||
| Cearoin | 3938139 | Click to see COC1=C(C=C(C(=C1)O)C(=O)C2=CC=CC=C2)O | 244.24 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)91118-X |
| Melanoxoin | 53262825 | Click to see COC1=C(C=C(C=C1)C(=O)C2=CC(=C(C=C2O)OC)O)O | 290.27 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)91118-X |
| > Organic acids and derivatives / Carboxylic acids and derivatives / Amino acids, peptides, and analogues / Alpha amino acids and derivatives / Phenylalanine and derivatives | |||||
| methyl (2S)-3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-[[(E)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)prop-2-enoyl]amino]propanoate | 163186439 | Click to see COC1=CC=C(C=C1)C=CC(=O)NC(CC2=CC(=C(C=C2)OC)OC)C(=O)OC | 399.40 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)82207-4 |
| methyl (2S)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-[[(E)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)prop-2-enoyl]amino]propanoate | 163188650 | Click to see COC1=CC=C(C=C1)CC(C(=O)OC)NC(=O)C=CC2=CC=C(C=C2)OC | 369.40 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)82207-4 |
| methyl (2S)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-[[(Z)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)prop-2-enoyl]amino]propanoate | 163189485 | Click to see | 369.40 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)82207-4 |
| Methyl 3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-[3-(4-methoxyphenyl)prop-2-enoylamino]propanoate | 163008336 | Click to see | 399.40 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)82207-4 |
| Methyl 3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-[3-(4-methoxyphenyl)prop-2-enoylamino]propanoate | 163040902 | Click to see COC1=CC=C(C=C1)CC(C(=O)OC)NC(=O)C=CC2=CC=C(C=C2)OC | 369.40 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)82207-4 |
| > Organic acids and derivatives / Carboxylic acids and derivatives / Amino acids, peptides, and analogues / Alpha amino acids and derivatives / Proline and derivatives | |||||
| DL-Proline | 614 | Click to see C1CC(NC1)C(=O)O | 115.13 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)82207-4 |
| Proline | 145742 | Click to see C1CC(NC1)C(=O)O | 115.13 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)82207-4 |
| > Organic acids and derivatives / Carboxylic acids and derivatives / Amino acids, peptides, and analogues / Alpha amino acids and derivatives / Tyrosine and derivatives | |||||
| 3-(3,4-Dihydroxyphenyl)-2-[3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)prop-2-enoylamino]propanoic acid | 66868367 | Click to see | 359.30 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)82207-4 |
| trans-Clovamide | 6506968 | Click to see | 359.30 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)82207-4 |
| > Organic oxygen compounds / Organooxygen compounds / Carbohydrates and carbohydrate conjugates / Glycosyl compounds / O-glycosyl compounds | |||||
| Hex-2-ulofuranosyl hexopyranoside | 1115 | Click to see C(C1C(C(C(C(O1)OC2(C(C(C(O2)CO)O)O)CO)O)O)O)O | 342.30 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)82207-4 |
| Sucrose | 5988 | Click to see | 342.30 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)82207-4 |
| > Organoheterocyclic compounds / Coumarans | |||||
| 2-Methoxy-5-(3-methyl-2,3-dihydro-1-benzofuran-2-yl)cyclohexa-1,5-dien-1-ol | 163074204 | Click to see | 258.31 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-4020(01)82981-1 |
| 2-methoxy-5-[(2S,3S)-3-methyl-2,3-dihydro-1-benzofuran-2-yl]cyclohexa-1,5-dien-1-ol | 163194295 | Click to see | 258.31 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-4020(01)82981-1 |
| > Phenylpropanoids and polyketides / 2-arylbenzofuran flavonoids | |||||
| (2S,3S)-2-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-6-methoxy-3-methyl-2,3-dihydro-1-benzofuran-5-ol | 179443 | Click to see CC1C(OC2=CC(=C(C=C12)O)OC)C3=CC(=C(C=C3)OC)O | 302.32 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-4020(01)82981-1 |
| > Phenylpropanoids and polyketides / Neoflavonoids / Dalbergiones | |||||
| (S)-4-Methoxydalbergione | 10400054 | Click to see | 254.28 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)91118-X |
| (S)-4'-Hydroxy-4-methoxydalbergione | 44257558 | Click to see COC1=CC(=O)C(=CC1=O)C(C=C)C2=CC=C(C=C2)O | 270.28 | unknown |
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-4020(01)82981-1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)91118-X |
| 2-[1-(3-Hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)prop-2-enyl]-5-methoxycyclohexa-2,5-diene-1,4-dione | 74977398 | Click to see | 300.30 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)91118-X |
| 4-Methoxydalbergione | 99926 | Click to see | 254.28 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)91118-X |
| Dalbergione, 4-Methoxy-4'-Hydroxy- | 3950721 | Click to see | 270.28 | unknown |
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)91118-X https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-4020(01)82981-1 |
| S-3'-Hydroxy-4,4'-Dimethoxydalbergione | 44257559 | Click to see | 300.30 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)91118-X |
| > Phenylpropanoids and polyketides / Neoflavonoids / Neoflavones | |||||
| Dalbergin | 442768 | Click to see | 268.26 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1021/NP0300683 |
| Melannein | 15560441 | Click to see | 314.29 | unknown | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-4020(01)82981-1 |
Collections Top
| In private collections | 0 |
| In public collections | 0 |