What is the difference between Hainan Huanghuali and Caohuali?

What is the difference between Hainan Huanghuali and Caohuali? There is no disagreement in the rosewood furniture industry about Hainan Huanghuali, but there are many different opinions on the research and interpretation of Caohuali, but they can be divided into two major categories.

From the above redwood classification diagram, we can clearly see that huanghuali belongs to the genus Dalbergia of the subfamily Fabaceae, and the category is fragrant wood (note that huanghuali does not belong to the rosewood category), and there is only one tree species in the fragrant wood category, Dalbergia odorifera, which is the precious "huanghuali".

Hainan Huanghuali, whose scientific name is "Dalbergia odorifera", was formerly known as "Huahua wood", "Hua Li wood", "Hua Li mother", "Hainan sandalwood", "Oil grid", "Kang grid", "Fragrant branch wood", etc.

"Grass rosewood" generally refers to some "rosewood" produced in Southeast Asia, such as Myanmar's big-fruited red sandalwood, bird's foot red sandalwood, Vietnamese-Cambodian red sandalwood, etc.

Pterocarpus macrocarpa

Bird's Foot Rosewood

Vietnamese-Cambodian rosewood

Hainan Huanghuali

Hainan Huanghuali is the preferred material for Ming-style hardwood furniture, especially those made in Suzhou. It has many names, but in the standard for redwood, it is Dalbergia odorifera, a member of the genus Dalbergia in the Fabaceae family. This is its only official scientific name.

Grass pear

There have always been different opinions on the interpretation of Caohuali. In fact, like Huanghuali, its name is not a scientific name of wood, but a cultural category with figurative meaning.

Generally speaking, there are two directions for its interpretation:

one

Grass rosewood refers to the seven species of Dalbergia rosewood in the red wood standard, or refers to sub-rosewood including Dalbergia Andrews and Dalbergia Angora.

Although the name of Caohuali is not pleasant, it is relative to Huanghuali. And it is also a general name for rosewood, Asian rosewood and other redwoods in the genus Dalbergia. Therefore, its own wood value is not low, and it is the main material for making redwood furniture in the current redwood furniture market.

two

This wood has never appeared in the production of hardwood furniture in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, but its texture is extremely similar to that of Huanghuali hardwood.

This type of statement mainly refers to the fact that this type of wood has not yet been included in the rosewood standard, and has never appeared in Chinese Ming and Qing hardwood furniture. It does not have the historical and cultural heritage value of Ming and Qing hardwood furniture.

However, its natural wood properties are very precious, and its texture, oiliness, plasticity, corrosion resistance, and hardness are very close to huanghuali. It is often cited in the rosewood market today. We also call this type of hardwood grass rosewood: such as the currently hotly hyped African rosewood, Brazilian rosewood (Guyi Sumu), large-leaf huanghuali, etc., are all high-end hardwoods that have not met the rosewood standards. Their air-dry density is sometimes much higher than that of the hardwood in the rosewood standard, and their growth years are also very long; for example, the air-dry density of large-leaf huanghuali is 1.015-1.41g/cm³, and its growth period is 500-800 years; its future development prospects are very promising.