{{short description|Species of plant}} {{redirect|African blackwood|the Rhodesian weeping wattle, also known as blackwood|Peltophorum africanum{{!}}''Peltophorum africanum''}} {{redirect-distinguish|Grenadilla|Granadilla (disambiguation){{!}}Granadilla}} {{Speciesbox |name = African blackwood |image=Dalbergia melanoxylon.jpg |status = NT |status_system = IUCN3.1 |taxon = Dalbergia melanoxylon |authority = Guill. & Perr. |synonyms = {{Plainlist | style = margin-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em; | *''Amerimnon melanoxylon'' <small>(Guill. & Perr.) Kuntze</small> *''Amerimnon stocksii'' <small>(Benth.) Kuntze</small> *''Dalbergia stocksii'' <small>Benth.</small> }} |synonyms_ref = <ref>{{citation |url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/ild-1852 |title=The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species |access-date=12 December 2015}}</ref> ||status_ref=<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Barstow, M. |date=2020 |title=''Dalbergia melanoxylon'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T32504A67798379 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T32504A67798379.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>}}
'''''Dalbergia melanoxylon''''' ('''African blackwood''', '''grenadilla''', or '''mpingo''') in French ''Grenadille d'Afrique'' is a flowering plant in the subfamily Faboideae of the family Fabaceae, native to seasonally dry regions of Africa from Senegal east to Eritrea, to southern regions of Tanzania to Mozambique and south to the north-eastern parts of South Africa. The tree is an important timber species in its native areas; it is used in the manufacture of musical instruments,<ref name=JCMB2009>{{cite journal|last=Amri|first=E.|author2=Z.L. Kanyeka|author3= H.V.M. Lyaruu|author4= A.S. Nyomora|title=Evaluation of genetic diversity in ''Dalbergia elanoxylon'' populations using random amplified polymorphic DNA markers|journal=Research Journal of Cell and Molecular Biology|year=2009|volume=3|issue=2|pages=71–79|publisher=INSInet Publication}}</ref> sculptures vinyago in Swahili language and fine furniture. Populations and genomic resources for genetic biodiversity maintenance in parts of its native range are threatened by overharvesting due to poor or absent conservation planning and by the species' low germination rates.<ref name=JCMB2009 />
[[File:Dalbergia_melanoxylon-CME-2016.jpg|thumb|right|African blackwood in a garden in Pune, India, showing its rounded, irregular canopy with low branching and coppicing.]]
African blackwood is a small tree, reaching 4–15 m tall, with grey bark and spiny shoots. The leaves are deciduous in the dry season, alternate, 6–22 cm long, pinnately compound, with 6–9 alternately arranged leaflets. The flowers are white and produced in dense clusters. The fruit is a pod 3–7 cm long, containing one to two seeds. It is often cited as one of the most expensive woods in the world.{{cn|date=September 2025}}
==Uses== thumb|right|African blackwood showing its lustrous black colour and yellow coloured sapwood. The dense, lustrous wood ranges in colour from reddish to pure black. It is generally cut into small billets or logs with its sharply demarcated bright yellow-white sapwood left on to assist in the slow drying so as to prevent cracks developing. Good quality "A" grade African blackwood commands high prices on the commercial timber market. The timber is used mainly because of its machinability, density, dimensional stability, and moisture repellence. Those properties are particularly valued when used in woodwind instruments, principally clarinets, oboes, transverse flutes, piccolos, recorders, Highland pipes, and Northumbrian pipes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Most Expensive Wood |url=http://most-expensive.com/wood |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=most-expensive.com |date=22 June 2009 }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=May 2016}} The Deering Banjo Company uses blackwood ("grenadilla") to construct the tone ring in its John Hartford-model banjo because it weighs less than brass or bronze tone rings, and that the wood "plays in" (improves in tone) with use. Furniture makers from ancient Egypt on have valued this timber. A story states that it has even been used as ballast in trading ships and that some enterprising Northumbrian pipe makers used old discarded blackwood ballast to great effect. The German knife companies Wüsthof, Böker and J. A. Henckels sell knives with blackwood handles due to the wood's moisture repellent qualities.
Due to overuse, the mpingo tree is severely threatened in Kenya and is needing attention in Tanzania and Mozambique. The trees are being harvested at an unsustainable rate, partly because of illegal smuggling of the wood into Kenya, but also because the tree takes upwards of 60 years to mature.
African blackwood is often cited as one of the most expensive woods in the world, along with sandalwood, pink ivory, agarwood and ebony.<ref>{{cite web | title=Top 10 Most Expensive Woods in the World | website=Salpoente Boutique | date=18 November 2016 | url=http://renesabino.com/luxury-blog/top-10-expensive-woods-world/ | access-date=19 September 2020 | archive-date=27 July 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727065034/http://renesabino.com/luxury-blog/top-10-expensive-woods-world/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=11 Most Expensive Woods in the World | website=Ventured | date=22 July 2020 | url=https://ventured.com/most-expensive-woods-in-the-world/ | access-date=19 September 2020}}</ref>
In woodturning, African Blackwood can maintain a fine edge without splintering due to its hardness and density, though it dulls tools considerably faster than other woods. While being turned, it creates a sweet, rose-like aroma.
===Relation to other woods=== * '''African blackwood''' is no longer regarded as ebony, a name now reserved for a limited number of timbers yielded by the genus ''Diospyros''; these are more of a matt appearance and are more brittle. * The genus ''Dalbergia'' yields other notable timbers, widely known as palisander (true rosewood), such as ''Dalbergia nigra'' (Brazilian rosewood), ''Dalbergia cearensis'', ''Dalbergia retusa'' (cocobolo) and several others. *'''D. melanoxylon''' is the hardest known wood, requiring 2000 kg to force a ball bearing one square centimetre in cross-section into a sample.<ref>{{cite book | last1= Busgen | first1= Dr. M. | last2= Munch | first2= Dr. E. | date= 1929 | title= The Structure and Life of Forest Trees | location= New York | publisher= John Wiley and Sons | page= 196 }}</ref>
==Names== Other names by which the tree is known include ''babanus'' and ''grenadilla'', which appear as loanwords in various local English dialects.
==Conservation== There are multiple organisations involved in the conservation of African blackwood: the Mpingo Conservation & Development Initiative, the African Blackwood Conservation Project, and Daraja Music Initiative (formerly Clarinets for Conservation).
The ''Mpingo Conservation & Development Initiative'' (MCDI, formerly the Mpingo Conservation Project) is involved in research, awareness raising and practical conservation of African blackwood. Conservation of mpingo and its natural habitat can be achieved by ensuring that local people living in mpingo harvesting areas receive a fair share of the revenue created, thus providing them with an incentive to manage the habitat in an environmentally friendly manner. In order to achieve this, the MCDI is helping communities to get Forest Stewardship Certification.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mpingo Conservation - Home |url=https://www.mpingoconservation.org/ |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=www.mpingoconservation.org}}</ref>
The ''African blackwood Conservation Project'' works around Mount Kilimanjaro replanting African blackwood trees, and in conservation education. It also works with adult and women's groups in the promotion of environmentally sound land uses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=African Blackwood Conservation Project – Tree planting projects for Dalbergia melanoxylon |url=https://www.blackwoodconservation.org/ |access-date=2023-04-19 |language=en-US}}</ref>
''Daraja Music Initiative'' (formerly Clarinets for Conservation) is a U.S.-based non-profit that aims to raise awareness and promote conservation of mpingo through music education in Tanzania. Students participate in an interdisciplinary program during the summer months that raises awareness of the value of mpingo through musical performances, classroom instruction, and tree plantings at local secondary and primary schools.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harrie |first=Jessica |date=2018-04-26 |title=Clarinets for Conservation: Sustaining the Earth Through Music |url=https://clarinet.org/clarinets-for-conservation-sustaining-the-earth-through-music/ |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=International Clarinet Association |language=en-US}}</ref>
Small growers in Naples, Florida have been successful in growing African blackwood there. Growth habit in Florida yields taller, larger trees, and the rich soil combined with ample nutrients and long growing season yields timber of superior quality at more sustainable rates.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plants For A Future - Dalbergia melanoxylon |url=https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Dalbergia+melanoxylon |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=pfaf.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2016-12-03 |title=Blackwood use could soon become tricky |url=https://www.pipesdrums.com/article/blackwood-use-could-soon-become-tricky/ |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=pipes{{!}}drums |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Footnotes== {{Reflist}}
==References and external links== * {{Cite iucn | author = World Conservation Monitoring Centre | author-link = World Conservation Monitoring Centre | title = ''Dalbergia melanoxylon'' | volume = 1998 | article-number = e.T32504A9710439 | date = 1998 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T32504A9710439.en }} *[https://allafrica.com/search/?search_string=mpingo+tree&search_submit=Search allAfrica.com - news on mpingo tree] *[https://winrock.org/factnet-a-lasting-impact/fact-sheets/dalbergia-melanoxylon-valuable-wood-from-a-neglected-tree/ Winrock International - Dalbergia melanoxylon]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} *[https://globaltrees.org/threatened-trees/trees/mpingo/ Global Trees - Mpingo] *[http://www.mpingoconservation.org/ Mpingo Conservation Project in Tanzania] *[https://www.ipsnews.net/?s=mpingo Inter Press Service (News Agency) - news on mpingo] {{WestAfricanPlants|Dalbergia melanoxylon}}
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melanoxylon Category:Trees of Africa Category:Near threatened plants Category:Wood