What are the differences between Hainan rosewood and grass rosewood?

What are the differences between Hainan Huanghuali and Caohuali? There's no disagreement in the rosewood furniture industry regarding Hainan Huanghuali, but the research and interpretation of Caohuali vary widely, though they generally fall into two main categories.

From the above classification chart of rosewood, we can clearly see that huanghuali belongs to the genus Dalbergia in the subfamily Papilionoideae, and is classified as fragrant rosewood. (Note that huanghuali does not belong to the rosewood category.) Furthermore, there is only one species in the fragrant rosewood category, Dalbergia odorifera, which is the precious "huanghuali".

Hainan rosewood, scientifically known as "Dalbergia odorifera", has been known by various names such as "Hualu wood", "Huali wood", "Huali mother", "Hainan sandalwood", "Youge", "Kangge", and "Xiangzhi wood".

"Grass rosewood" generally refers to some "rosewood" produced in Southeast Asia, such as Burmese rosewood, bird's foot rosewood, and Vietnamese rosewood.

Pterocarpus macrocarpus

Bird's Foot Rosewood

Vietnamese and Cambodian rosewood

Hainan rosewood

Hainan rosewood is the preferred material for Ming-style hardwood furniture, especially in Suzhou-style pieces. It has had many names, but in the standard for rosewood, it is *Dalbergia odorifera*, a species of fragrant rosewood in the genus *Dalbergia* of the legume family; this is its only official scientific name.

Caohuali

There have always been many different interpretations of grass rosewood in the industry. In fact, like huanghuali, its name is not a scientific name in wood science, but rather a cultural category with figurative meaning.

Generally speaking, there are two main directions for its interpretation:

one

"Grass rosewood" refers to the seven types of rosewood in the rosewood standard, or to sub-rosewood including Pterocarpus angolensis and Pterocarpus Angoraensis.

Although the name "grass rosewood" doesn't sound appealing, it's used in contrast to "huanghuali" (rosewood). Furthermore, it's largely a general term for various types of rosewood, including those from the genus *Pterocarpus*, so its intrinsic value is not low, making it a primary material for rosewood furniture making in the current market.

two

A type of wood that has never appeared in the production of hardwood furniture during the Ming and Qing dynasties in China, but whose grain is extremely similar to that of huanghuali (rosewood).

This type of claim mainly refers to the fact that this type of wood has not been included in the standard for rosewood to date, nor has it appeared in Ming and Qing dynasty hardwood furniture, and therefore does not possess the historical and cultural heritage value of Ming and Qing dynasty hardwood furniture.

However, its natural wood properties are very precious. Its texture, oil content, plasticity, corrosion resistance, and hardness are very similar to those of rosewood. It is often used in the current rosewood market. We also call this type of hardwood "grass rosewood": such as the currently popular African rosewood, Brazilian rosewood (Guibourtia), and large-leaf rosewood. These are all high-grade hardwoods that are not included in the rosewood standard. Their air-dry density is sometimes much higher than that of hardwoods in the rosewood standard, and their growth period is also very long. For example, the air-dry density of large-leaf rosewood is 1.015-1.41 g/cm³, and its growth period is 500-800 years. Its future development prospects are very promising.