Tulipwood

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Tulipwood, also "Brazilian tulipwood", is a classic high-quality wood, very dense with a lovely figure. It is used for inlays in furniture and for small turned items. Available only in small sizes, it is rarely used in the solid for luxury furniture. Like other woods with a pronounced figure it is rather strongly subject to fashion.

In the nineteenth century tulipwood was thought to be the product of Physocalymma scaberrima, but in the twentieth century it became clear it was yielded by a species of Dalbergia. At some point it was misidentified as Dalbergia frutescens var. tomentosa, a misidentification which can still be found in books aimed at the woodworker. For some decades it has been known to be yielded by Dalbergia decipularis, a species restricted to a small area in Brazil.

It has nothing to do with the tuliptree, which yields a yellowish greenish wood, nor with the Australian "tulipwood", the common name of Harpullia pendula, among others.