Rosewood at False Bluff

     I'm a fan of rosewood, which is one of the prettiest colored and grained woods I know.  I have some old pieces in my home in Virginia, like the table below, inlaid with mother-of-pearl

and the piano leg which supports a vanity top and sink.

     I don't know the variety of either of the above pictured pieces of rosewood, but I've brought from Nicaragua some small hand carved pieces of 'cocobola' rosewood (dalbergia retusa), a variety of rosewood known worldwide as one of the best quality rosewoods of the genus.  Since the pieces are hand carved, the maker's work is easy to see.  Cocobola rosewood is denser than most other true rosewoods and the variety found in Nicaragua has a reputation for consistently producing vibrant reds and oranges.  See the July 25, 2013 post for more of Mr. Lopez's work:  http://falsebluff.blogspot.com/2013/07/horses-and-hair-sticks.html

       Cocobola is listed as 'rare/vulnerable' on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) 'red list' and at False Bluff we are prepping to plant about a hundred young trees.  I've been told that cuttings from the trees root easily and so, as time goes on, we'll extend our plantings.   Although Nicaragua now carefully regulates the harvesting of all species of rosewood trees that grow in the country, rosewood trees can be harvested beginning when they're as young as ten years old.