The wood most commonly sold as Dalmata is known to many botanists as Swartzia<\/em> arborescens<\/em>. However, some sources claim that this identification is incorrect and outdated and the correct botanical designation should be Cynometra<\/em> spruceana<\/em>. Not being a botanist I can’t speak to this controversy but I can say that the relatively limited information written for the general public, i.e. non-botanists, generally refers to the wood as S. arborescens<\/em>. So, that’s the controversy, if interested, but I can’t imagine that most of my readers much care.<\/p>\n
For what it is worth, Cynometra<\/em> is a genus with well over 50 species included. Cynometra<\/em> has a pantropical distribution, being found throughout the tropical regions of the world across multiple continents.<\/p>\n
Swartzia<\/em>, on the other hand, contains over 200 named species and is restricted, although obviously quite prolific, to the New World tropics, being especially prevalent in Amazonia, where 10-20 different Swartzia<\/em> species, ranging from shrubs to canopy trees, may be present at a single site. Several different species of Swartzia<\/em> are relatively common tropical woods encountered in the United States, including woods commonly sold as Wamara (Guyana Rosewood), Queenwood, Katalox, and Pau Rosa. With the possible exception of Wamara, I have samples of all of these Swartzia species woods in my workshop.<\/p>\n