Huanghuali
wood belongs to the rosewood family and its botanical name is Dalbergia
odorifera. It was originally called Huali. Most people interprete
Huanghuali as 'yellow flowering pear'. To a certain extend, this
a correct but it is a direct translation of words. To wood
working people and carpenters, the word Hua is used to decribe the
grains in the wood, so in this case it is more appropriate to call it
'Grainy Pear' wood or 'Yellow Grainy Pear' wood. New Huali
furnitures display a light yellow with dark brown grains. After
exposure to lights over the years they mellow into a varieety of
shades such as brownish-yellow, reddish-brown, golden-yellow
or dark golden honey. Huali is a very slow growing tree
indigenous to North Vietnam, Guangxi and particularly Hainan. Practically all the old trees have been chopped and used for furniture and other uses.