Swietenia Mahagoni L. Jacq

Family : Meliaceae

Characteristic Features :

Habit : Trees to 25 m tall; trunk to 4 m across; bark deeply fissured.

Leaves :  alternate, to 18 cm long; leaflets ca 5 pairs, oblong-lanceolate, falcate, oblique at base, entire at margin, acuminate at apex, coriaceous, glabrous above, puberulous beneath; petioles to 3 cm long; petiolules 5-6 mm long.

Inflorescence : Panicles to 10 cm long; peduncles to 4 cm long.

Flowers : ca 7 mm across. Calyx lobes 5, ovate, ca 2 mm long, pubescent. Petals 5, obovate, hooded, ca 5 x 2 mm, spreading, pubescent outside, cream-yellow. Staminal tube cupular, ca 3 mm long, glabrous, 10-lobed; anthers 10, included, alternating with lobes. Ovary 5-loculed; style narrow, tapering, to 2 mm long.

Fruit : Capsules oblong, ca 7 x 5.5 cm;

Seeds : ca 6 x 1.5 cm, winged.