Hello,
I'm working with some wood that's supposed to be "royal cedar", or
cedrella odorata. It's very, very similar to "spanish cedar", and
indeed is sold as such. What I've noticed about the wood I'm using is
that it is much LESS aromatic than the spanish cedar I've worked with
in the past. I'm just diving into a google search, but I'm having
trouble finding information that would allow me to positively
distinguish between the two. It looks like "spanish cedar" comprises a
number of different species....
.....wait a minute. It now appears that cedrella (cedrela) odorata *is*
spanish cedar. Hmmm... I just like to know what species I'm working
with when I work it. Off to google. Further bulletins as events
warrant.
JP

Spanish cedar is sold using several different species:

(1) It's not spanish
(2) It's not cedar
(3) It's a member of the mahogany family

It's gonna be tough to really know what you got.

It's doubtful the people you bought from know what
it really is.

Here is blurb on spanish cedar......



Cedrela is a genus of seven species in the mahogany
family Meliaceae. They are evergreen or dry-season
deciduous trees with pinnate leaves, native to the
tropical and subtropical New World, from southern
Mexico south to northern Argentina.

Species

* Cedrela fissilis Vell. - Costa Rica south to Argentina
* Cedrela hirsuta C. DC. - Paraguay
* Cedrela lilloi C. DC. - Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador
* Cedrela montana Moritz ex Turcz - Colombia, Ecuador
* Cedrela odorata L. (Cedro Hembra) - West Indies and from 24°N in
Mexico south to 28°S in Argentina
* Cedrela salvadorensis Standl. - Central America
* Cedrela tonduzii C. DC. - Central America

Cedrela odorata is the commonest species in the genus,
widespread in seasonally dry tropical and subtropical
forests; it is deciduous in the dry season which may
last several months. C. lilloi and C. montana occur at
higher altitudes in moister conditions, and are evergreen
or only briefly deciduous.

These additional names have been published, but are not
now accepted as distinct taxa (see Pennington & Styles 1981): C.
angustifolia, C. balansae, C. barbata, C. boliviana, C. brunelliodes, C.
ciliolata, C. discolor, C. febrifuga, C. guanensis, C. mexicana, C.
oaxacensis, C. occidentalis, C. pacayana, C. paraguariensis, C. rosei,
C. rotunda, C. saxatilis, C. sintenisii, C. steinbachii, C. velutina.

Some authors take a wider view of the genus, and include the related
Asian - Australasian genus Toona in Cedrela.





Jay Pique wrote:

Hello,
I'm working with some wood that's supposed to be "royal cedar", or
cedrella odorata. It's very, very similar to "spanish cedar", and
indeed is sold as such. What I've noticed about the wood I'm using is
that it is much LESS aromatic than the spanish cedar I've worked with
in the past.