• abura: A West African wood used for veneers, having a light brown color with a pink tinge
• accra: A wood from the African Gold Coast, used for fine veneers, having a dark red mahogany color, sometimes with a curled grain.
• African padauk: A close-textured wood from the west coast of Africa; the heartwood is red to dark brown with red streaks and is used quarter-sliced for veneer; it is also used for carving.
• agba: A wood from West Africa, used for veneers, having a pale, cedar-brown color and resembling mahogany.
• avodire: A West African wood also called apaya; used as lumber and for fine veneers, its color ranging from paper white to a light, golden cream shade; fine-textured, strongly figured.
• ayan: Also called movingui; a wood from West Africa, the light background resembling satinwood but with a more open grain; used chiefly for veneer.
• ayous: A west African wood, known as obeche and by many other names; a clean, creamy white wood with a fairly open, uniform grain; weathers to a light brownish yellow; used for fine veneer.
• benin: Also see tigerwood, African walnut.
• bilinga: Woods from the west coast of Africa, yellow to reddish with reddish brown, diagonal stripes; used for veneer.
• bosse: A wood from West Africa, sold under many names, such as “pink mahogany” and “African cedar”; sapwood pinkish white, heartwood pink to light mahogany with a veined or curly appearance; aromatic scent when freshly sawn; used for furniture, flooring, and interior woodwork, also veneer.
• bubinga: Also called African rosewood, a hard, heavy wood from West Africa, with pink or red strips against a red-brown background; used chiefly for veneer.
• capomo: A South African wood resembling hard maple except that it lacks the bird’s-eye grain; used for furniture, interior woodwork, and also veneer.
• celtis: A West African wood with sapwood and heartwood a light yellow, hard grained and fine textured; used for furniture, cabinetwork and flooring.
• chenchen: A wood from West Africa, useful for its white to yellowish gray veneer, which has a good stripe.
• dahoma: A wood from West Africa; straw-colored sapwood and light to golden brown heart-wood; a durable, moderately hard, termite-resistant wood.
• danta: A wood from West Africa with sapwood of pinkish yellow and heartwood reddish brown, lustrous, fine-textured, hard, and tough; its architectural use is in veneer.
• ekki: A wood from West Africa with dark red to chocolate-brown heartwood, speckled; extremely hard, heavy, and coarse in texture; used for outdoor construction and flooring.
• emeri: A wood from West Africa, used chiefly for veneer; pale yellow to light brown in color. Also called ireme, idiabo.
• Ethiopian architecture: Fifth and 4th c. BC stone-built temples in the Melazo region and in Yeha…
• giallo antico: This is found, not in Numidia proper, but in the Mountain of the Capes, in the provinces of Africa and Mauritania in Algeria. The colors range through shades of yellow, drab, and pink to deep red.
• guarea: A wood from West Africa, sold under many names, such as “ink mahogany” and “African cedar”; sapwood pinkish white, heartwood pink to light mahogany with a veined or curly appearance; aromatic scent when freshly sawn; used for furniture, flooring, and interior woodwork, also veneer.
• idiabo: A wood from West Africa, used chiefly for veneer; pale yellow to light brown in color. Also called ireme, emeri.
• ireme: Also called idiabo; a wood from West Africa, used chiefly for veneer; pale yellow to light brown in color. Also see emeri.
• iroko: One of the most useful woods of West Africa; of light yellow-brown color, becoming darker with exposure to air; rather cross-grained and does not readily split; used for construction, railway ties, and veneer.
• khaya: A wood of many localities in Africa, the color ranging from light pink through bright red to red-brown; hard, works well, and is usually figured, producing a good veneer.
• kraal: A compound of native huts in Africa.
• limba: A West African wood also known as afara, frake, offram, and “korina,” varying in color from pale cream to brown; used chiefly for furniture and veneer.
• makore: Also called African cherry and baku; a tree native to the Gold Coast and Nigeria, the wood of which is pink to pinkish or red-brown, somewhat resembling khaya but with dark red growth lines similar to cherry; used principally for veneer.
• mansonia: Also called ofun; a wood from the west coast of Africa, frequently used as a substitute for American walnut where long length is required; used also for veneer.
• Numidian marble: This is found, not in Numidia proper, but in the Mountain of the Capes, in the provinces of Africa and Mauritania in Algeria. The colors range through shades of yellow, drab, and pink to deep red.
• okoume: Also called gaboon; a wood from the African west coast, light reddish brown with dark, broken strips and a lustrous sheen; moderately soft and light in weight, yet strong; used chiefly for veneer.
• opepe: A wood from West Africa, with yellowish or pinkish sapwood and orange to golden yellow heartwood, darkening slightly upon exposure; texture coarse, grain frequently interlocked, hard, moderately heavy; used for flooring, furniture, panels, and veneer.
• sandarac: A tree of North Africa, the wood of which is dark and hard; also called Algerian thuja.
• spicy cedar: A wood from West Africa, with gray sapwood and reddish yellow to bright red heartwood; used for interior woodwork and furniture.
• straw bale construction: A method of construction common in the African prairies and later the American Midwest, and having a resurgence of interest today.
• thuja burl: A wood from the Atlas Mountains, North Africa; light brown to nearly black, sometimes with tiny eyes similar to bird’s-eye maple; used chiefly for veneer.
• tigerwood: Also see African walnut.
• zebrano: A wood from West Africa which, quarter-sawn, gives a veneer of light straw-colored background with parallel dark brown stripes; heavy, hard texture somewhat coarse.
• zebrawood: A wood from West Africa which, quarter-sawn, gives a veneer of light straw-colored background with parallel dark brown stripes; heavy, hard texture somewhat coarse.
• zingana: A wood from West Africa which, quarter-sawn, gives a veneer of light straw-colored background with parallel dark brown stripes; heavy, hard texture somewhat coarse.

Also see Architecture Origin index.

Also see Architecture index.