tamoio -> RE: Why? (Feb. 20 2011 19:13:35)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Richard Jernigan quote:
ORIGINAL: Ruphus ... and that most of chopped down BR is to become fragrance for parfumes. Ruphus From C. F. Vega at http://www.acousticguitar.com/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=010641#000000 "I've read a number of articles, both on the internet and in print, stating that the use of "Brazilian rosewood oil" by the perfume/fragrance industry has contributed in large part to the near extinction, international trade bans and resulting exhorbitant prices of Dalbergia nigra, the true Brazilian rosewood of lore and legend. Nonsense. Poppycock. Balderdash. Horsehockey. The tree that is the source of the so-called "Brazilian rosewood oil" that is used in fragrances is a large evergreen with the botanical name Aniba rosaeodora that grows in the western Amazon basin as well as in Peru, Chile, Ecuador and a couple of other countries but Brazil is the primary supplier. The tree that is the source of the Brazilian rosewood that we all know (or at least think we know) and love grows only in the Mata Atlantica, the Atlantic coastal forest of Brazil and not in the Amazon basin. They are two separate and distinct trees of different botanic genera and are not related to each other. While the widespread harvesting of A. rosaeodora may well be a contributing factor to the decimation of the Amazon rainforest, it has no bearing whatsoever on the rarity of D. nigra. This is just one more example of a common/colloquial term causing confusion. The term "Brazilian rosewood" has been used for many years to describe any number of woods, some from Brazil, some not. Some are botanically true rosewoods (genus Dalbergia), others are not. While it is true that there are other species of the genus Dalbergia that grow in Brazil and therefore could correctly be called "Brazilian rosewood" (but usually aren't while several non-Dalbergia species often are ), the one that is near and dear to the hearts of guitar makers and players and the one that is the Big Enchilada on the CITES and Lacey Act lists is D. nigra, not some sort of look-alike, smell-alike, taste-alike, etc. The genus Dalbergia is quite large and while there is some dispute as to the actual number of species within the genus, the number is probably in excess of 300. While all of the true rosewoods are of this genus, there are only about a dozen or so species worldwide that yield commercially viable lumber. Some of the species are little more than small shrubs. In other words, all of the true rosewoods are Dalbergias but not all Dalbergias are rosewoods. Bottom line----The tree that is the source of "Brazilian rosewood oil" is not actually a rosewood at all, the fragrance industry has nothing whatsoever to do with the scarcity of D. nigra and D. nigra, while a fragrant wood insofar as woods go, is not used for making perfume." RNJ Thanks Richard. I'll also add that to my knowledge the primary source regions for Dalbergia nigra , the "Mata Atlantica" that you mention would be places like coastal Pernambuco or Bahia. These areas have been heavily cleared for plantation agriculture beginning in the 16th century. There are still sizeable pockets of "Mata Atlantica" even in Rio de Janeiro state, but at the time of european contact it stretched unbroken from the Rio Plata to the Yucatan. I'm certain that, at least initially, Brasilian "rosewood" was not coming from the Amazon Basin.
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