The African Blackwood tree, scientifically known as Dalbergia melanoxylon, is also called Mpingo or Grenadilla. Often mistakenly referred to as African Ebony, this generally small and stunted tree is found in many parts of Africa south of the Sahara.
Dalbergia melanoxylon
Habitat and Distribution
Most Blackwood that reaches the markets of Europe and America comes from Tanzania south to Mozambique. It is found growing mostly in dry woodlands or savannahs.
Savanna
Physical Characteristics
African Blackwood is a small tree, reaching 4-15 m tall, with grey bark and spiny shoots. The leaves are deciduous in the dry season, alternate, 6-22 cm long, pinnately compound, with 6-9 alternately arranged leaflets. The flowers are white and produced in dense clusters. The fruit is a pod 3-7 cm long, containing one to two seeds.
Read also: Experience Fad's Fine African Cuisine
Trees are inherently of poor form, heavily branched, sometimes with heart voids which end up as homes to other plants, insects, small mammals, and reptiles. African Blackwood’s heartwood is purplish to brownish-black giving an overall impression of being black. It is lustrous with an attractive inner chatoyance. The sapwood is straw colored to a bright yellow and can be as wide as two inches.
Wood Properties
African Blackwood is very hard and heavy, weighing as much as 85 lbs per cubic foot. The wood is oily, which, along with its density, contributes to its being one of the world’s best turnery woods. Because the wood is free from certain chemical compounds that can cause rust, it’s easy on tools. Because of that, African Blackwood was historically used for the handles of surgical instruments.
Color/Appearance: Often completely black, with little or no discernible grain. Occasionally slightly lighter, with a dark brown or purplish hue.
Rot Resistance: Heartwood is rated as very durable in regards to decay resistance, though only moderately resistant to insects/borers.
Workability: Very difficult to work with hand or machine tools, with an extreme blunting effect on cutters. African blackwood is most often used in turned objects, where it is considered to be among the very finest of all turning woods-capable of holding threads and other intricate details well.
Read also: The Story Behind Cachapas
Allergies/Toxicity: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, African blackwood has been reported as a sensitizer. Usually most common reactions simply include eye, skin, and respiratory irritation.
Pricing/Availability: African blackwood is very expensive, on par with true ebonies such as Gaboon Ebony in the Diospyros genus.
Sustainability: African blackwood is listed on CITES appendix II under the genus-wide restriction on all Dalbergia species-which also includes finished products made of the wood.
Comments: To be considered the original ebony, African Blackwood was imported and used in Ancient Egypt thousands of years ago. Even the name “ebony” has an Egyptian derivation as “hbny”-which has been shown to refer to primarily to Dalbergia melanoxylon, rather than the species which are considered to be ebony today: such as those in the Diospyros genus. African blackwood is considered to be among the hardest and densest of woods in the world; indeed, among some 285 species tested, (including Lignum Vitae), Gabriel Janka originally found African Blackwood to be the very hardest.
Uses of African Blackwood
The uses for African Blackwood are many and varied. The appearance of African Blackwood is finer grained than ebony and it has a very notable melodious tone. This, along with its dimensional stability makes it an excellent wood for woodwind instruments. Good quality "A" grade African blackwood commands high prices on the commercial timber market.
Read also: Techniques of African Jewellery
The timber is used mainly because of its machinability, density, dimensional stability, and moisture repellence. Those properties are particularly valued when used in woodwind instruments, principally clarinets, oboes, transverse flutes, piccolos, recorders, Highland pipes, and Northumbrian pipes. The Deering Banjo Company uses blackwood ("grenadilla") to construct the tone ring in its John Hartford-model banjo because it weighs less than brass or bronze tone rings, and that the wood "plays in" (improves in tone) with use.
In addition to woodwinds, it is also esteemed for guitars, ukuleles, mandolins, etc. It is the favorite wood of ornamental turners taking intricate detailing with clean and crisp edges. Occasionally we run across logs or boards or squares that have the rarest of figures found in African Blackwood - bird’s-eye. These one-of-a-kind, beautiful pieces are usually set aside for custom knife makers, pool cue makers, or artisans making revolver or automatic pistol handles.
Certain African tribes use heartwood of African Blackwood for the manufacture of intricate, ceremonial carvings. African Blackwood is used for the manufacture of luxurious casings for the cell phones in Russia. African Blackwood is used in treatment of various disorders in the folk medicine.
Sustainability and Conservation
Due to overuse, the mpingo tree is severely threatened in Kenya and is needing attention in Tanzania and Mozambique. The tree is an important timber species in its native areas. However, the tree is so slow growing that there is little economic incentive for farmers to replant.
Organizations such as the African Blackwood Conservation Project work with locals to replant Mpingo trees as well as other native trees. The project aims to improve biodiversity conservation, reforestation, and economic security for people who live in Mpingo growing regions. Furthermore, our mill in Mozambique has a very aggressive replanting program, from raising seedlings to planting them in the wild and then nurturing them until they can thrive on their own.
The Mpingo Conservation & Development Initiative (MCDI, formerly the Mpingo Conservation Project) is involved in research, awareness raising and practical conservation of African blackwood. Conservation of mpingo and its natural habitat can be achieved by ensuring that local people living in mpingo harvesting areas receive a fair share of the revenue created, thus providing them with an incentive to manage the habitat in an environmentally friendly manner.
Our African Blackwood originates from Mozambique and is processed in a Forest Stewardship Council certified mill. The remote growing regions present an obstacle in getting this precious wood and the trees often have to be transported great distances to reach the mill. Once the trees have arrived at the mill, they are debarked by hand and the larger logs are split. The split logs and smaller diameter logs are then run through band saws to cut them into cants.
The African Blackwood trees themselves are rather scraggly and often contain large voids, heart rot, bug holes, soil, and other foreign matter. This makes them poor candidates for large lumber, but a good option for small blanks. From the African Blackwood cants, the mill cuts mostly woodwind blanks that range in size from 1x1” to 4x4”. The rough squares and cants are graded, where defects like cracks, knots, and irregular grain are sorted out.
Our mill partner has a number of social responsibility projects to support the local workers and environment. They dug a well and installed a water pump for the local community so workers and their families have access to clean, free water. At the mill, they provide lunch for workers and the mill safety program addresses the hazards of mill work, requiring workers to employ personal protective equipment such as dust masks and ear protection.
As Mpingo, the Swahili name for African Blackwood, is the national tree of Tanzania, it holds a special place in the hearts of east Africans.
Table 1: Summary of African Blackwood Properties
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Dalbergia melanoxylon |
| Other Names | Mpingo, Grenadilla, African Ebony (erroneously) |
| Distribution | Africa south of the Sahara, especially Tanzania and Mozambique |
| Heartwood Color | Purplish to brownish-black |
| Sapwood Color | Straw colored to bright yellow |
| Density | Approximately 85 lbs per cubic foot |
| Durability | Very durable in regards to decay resistance |
| Common Uses | Musical instruments, ornamental turnery, carving |
| Threat Level | Threatened in Kenya, needing attention in Tanzania and Mozambique |
