FoI
Big-Leaf Mahogany
Share Foto info
Big-Leaf Mahogany
ntroduced Photo: Ankush Dave
Common name: Big-Leaf Mahogany, Bastard Mahogany, Honduras mahogany • Malayalam: mahagony • Telugu: Mahagani, Peddakulamaghani
Botanical name: Swietenia macrophylla    Family: Meliaceae (Neem family)

Big-Leaf Mahogany is a large deciduous tree, growing up to 45-60 m tall and 80 cm trunk diameter. The trunk is straight and cylindrical, slightly grooved, with well-developed spurs. The open, rounded crown has thick, rising branches, and thick, dense foliage. The leaves are usually paripinnate, sometimes imparipinnate, 12-45 cm long, and made up of 3-6 pairs of ovate or ovate-lanceshaped leaflets. The leaflets are asymmetric, 5-12 cm long, and 2-5 cm wide, with pointed or long pointed tip. The tree prefers rich, deep, and well-drained soils, with moisture available most of the year. Whether the tree is deciduous or evergreen depends on water availability. Big-Leaf Mahogany is native to Southern Mexico to Peru and Brazil.

Identification credit: J.M. Garg, Ankush Dave Photographed Agra, Patna & Kolkata.

• Is this flower misidentified? If yes,