Wood species question ( newbie)

[Randy Rose]

When you accompany the "war department" to Pier 1 / World Market / Bombay ( pick one) they have furniture made in Malaysia / Thailand / Indonesia ( pick one) that`s made of a very light weight wood stained in a dark espresso color. Anybody know what it is ?:confused:

Probably a pointless question but, inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks

[Maurice Ungaro]

Is it balsa wood? :D

[Doug Shepard]

I think it might be Ramin. I needed some 1/8" dowels and found some pre-packaged ones made from it. I'd never heard of it before but I noticed at the time that it looks like a lot of the imported furniture wood I've seen.

[Jim Becker]

There are so many species that it could be including Luan.

[Jon Shakespear]

If the furniture that your looking at is in the low to mid price range and is imported from southeast Asia, you are almost certainly seeing rubberwood (also called parawood). This hardwood has flooded the market recently. It is produced from the para rubber tree at the end of its latex producing cycle. It is a relative of maple. Check out wikipedia for more info:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubberwood (http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubberwood)
108348 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubberwood)

[Dick Strauss]

I think Jon is right...most of the items I've seen like that are rubber wood. When it is stained dark, rubber wood usually has little short black stripes from the grain in the wood. I've seen it used for furniture, picture frames, cups, vases, etc.

[Howard Acheson]

Much is Rubberwood. It harvested from rubber trees that no longer exude latex.