WOOD ID POSTER:
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240 woods on a poster (24"x36")

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BOSSE

Guarea spp.

Guarea spp. of the family Meliaceae, the mahogany family. The primary species appear to be G. cedrata and G. thompsonii but there a dozen more (see discussion below)

a mahogany-related wood from both Africa and South America. Several South American species of the genus Guarea and several African species are sold under the common name guarea or bosse and I do not know the differences, if any, among them. All together, there are easily a dozen species in the genus Guarea that are sold as either bosse or guarea OR BOTH --- primary dealers certainly know whether their wood comes from South America or Africa, but secondary dealers may be less sure and may not even care, so I consider the separation of the Guarea species into guarea and Bosse to be suspect. I certainly have no faith that the separation between the two on this web site it entirely accurate, although I DO pay attention to where I get the pics and what they say (but this relies on the knowledge of the vendors and that ranges from what I believe to be quite reliable, to highly suspect).

my samples:


a small plank sold to me as guarea


one side and end grain of a small turning stick sold to me as guarea


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


a couple of small thins I cut for a project and the same two pieces moistened with water to show how nicely the color comes out


web pics


planks listed as bosse


planks listed as guarea


planks, listed as bosse, that have been moistened for the pics


flat cut bosse veneer


quartersawn figured bosse veneer


veneer, all from the same vendor, that may or may not be bosse (or guarea or who knows what; it was listed as bosse)


bosse burl veneer


bosse pomelle veneer


bosse crotch veneer




both sides of a bosse plank and a closeup --- this is from the BogusColorVendor so the color is very suspect