Swietenia mahagoni and Swietenia macrophylla, the differences

SPECIES HEAD TO HEAD - To date, mahogany (Swietenia Jacq.) is recorded as having four species: West Indian mahogany or small-leaved mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq.), big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King), Honduran mahogany (Swietenia humilis Zucc.) and Swietenia × aubrevilleana Stehlé & Cusin.

The debate over the number of taxa in the genus is still not resolved. Some researchers believe that there are only two species: S. mahagoni and S. macrophylla. I agree with that opinion and the two species can only be differentiated by the size of the leaves.

All species in this genus have similar morphology except for leaf size. The following is the key to identifying these two species.

S. mahagoni has a stalk length of around 37 cm with 5-6 pairs of strands. The strands are about 10 cm long and about 3.5 cm wide.

Dlium Swietenia mahagoni and Swietenia macrophylla, the differences 2

S. macrophylla has a stalk length of up to 45 cm with 4-5 pairs of strands. The strands are up to 31 cm long and up to 8 cm wide.

Dlium Swietenia mahagoni and Swietenia macrophylla, the differences 3

By Aryo Bandoro
Founder of Dlium.com. You can follow him on X: @Abandoro.

Read more:

Blue pea (Clitoria ternatea)

Blue pea ( Clitoria ternatea ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae family. It is a climbing herb with compound leaves, 5-7 leaflets, up to 12 cm long. The leaflets are oval to round, up to 4 cm long and 3 cm wide, and green. The flowers are blue and white, up to 5 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. The pods are up to 11 cm long and 1 cm wide. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Subfamily: Faboideae Tribe: Phaseoleae Subtribe: Clitoriinae Genus: Clitoria L. in Sp. Pl.: 753 (1753) Species: Clitoria ternatea L. in Sp. Pl.: 753 (1753) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Clitoria spectabilis Salisb. in Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton: 336 (1796) Nauchea ternatea (L.) J.-T.Descourt. in Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 4: 8 (1826) Ternatea ternatea (L.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 3(2): 72 (1898) Ternatea vulgaris Kunth in F.W.H.von Humboldt, A.J.A.Bonpland & C.S.Kunth, Nov. Gen. Sp. 6: 415 (1824) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Clitoria albiflora Matte...

Dadmari (Ammannia baccifera)

Dadmari ( Ammannia baccifera ) is a species of plant in the Lythraceae, an erect, branched herb, up to 50 cm tall, with slightly angular stems and narrow, oblong leaves about 3.5 cm long. The flowers are about 1.2 mm long, greenish or purplish, and grow in dense axillary clusters. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Myrtales Family: Lythraceae Genus: Ammannia L. in Sp. Pl.: 119 (1753) Species: Ammannia baccifera L. in Sp. Pl.: 120 (1753) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Ammannia baccifera f. genuina Koehne in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 1: 260 (1880) Ammannia baccifera f. typica Koehne (1880) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Celosia bicolor Blanco in Fl. Filip.: 191 (1837) Celosia nana Blanco (1837) Ammannia apiculata Koehne (1880) Ammannia attenuata Hochst. ex A.Rich. in Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 278 (1848) Ammannia attenuata var. latifolia Koehne (1880) Ammannia attenuata var. micromerioides Chiov. in Bull. Soc. Bot. Ital. 1917: 27 (1917) Ammannia attenuata f. pe...

Liberian coffee (Coffea liberica)

Liberian coffee ( Coffea liberica ) is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae family, a tree up to 20 meters tall, with numerous, radial and irregular branches, brown bark, and linear fissures. The leaves are oval, thick, up to 35 cm long, up to 20 cm long, shiny green, and have petioles up to 1 cm long. The fruit is round to oval, irregular, and up to 2 cm wide. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Gentianales Family: Rubiaceae Subfamily: Ixoroideae Tribe: Coffeeae Genus: Coffea L. in Sp. Pl.: 172 (1753) Species: Coffea liberica W.Bull in Nursery Cat. (William Bull) 97: 4 (1874) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Coffea abeokutae Cramer in Meded. Dept. Landb. Ned.-Indië 11: 286, 396 (1913) Coffea abeokutae var. camerunensis A.Chev. in Encycl. Biol. 22: t. 44 (1942) Coffea abeokutae var. indeniensis (Siebert) A.Chev. (1942) Coffea abeokutae var. longicarpa Portères in Ann. Agric. Afrique Occ. 1(2): 224 (1937) Coffea abeokutae var. macrocarpa...

Dlium