Bubinga / African Rosewood

Bubinga, a.k.a. African Rosewood, consists of two species (Guibourtia tessmannii and G. pellegriniana). It is a hard and heavy tropical wood grown in Cameroon, Gabon, and the Ivory Coast of eastern Africa. Some supplies of this wood available in North America are from environmentally responsible or managed sustainable sources

An immensely popular imported African hardwood, bubinga may be loved as much for its quirky name as it is for its strength and beauty. The wood is sometimes called kevazingo, a name usually applied to its decorative rotary-cut veneer. In addition to its myriad grain patterns, its strength-to-weight ratio (specifically its MOR) also ranks among the very best in the world.

Bubinga has a close resemblance to rosewood, and is sometimes called African rosewood—though this name is more commonly applied to another Guibourtia species, Guibourtia coleosperma. However, its similarity to true rosewoods has been a double-edged sword, as the wood has been heavily exploited in recent years in the Chinese hongmu (rosewood) market—resulting in a ban not only on true rosewoods, but also bubinga as well.