Abstract:
Timber is considered to be an ecologically friendly building material with less construction
energy requirements. The Mahogany and Khaya species are economically valuable timber
species belong to family Meliaceae. External appearance of both sawn wood is similar.
Therefore, consumers and buyers tend to get mislead easily. Wood anatomy is considered to be
a precise and rapid method for wood identification. Present practice of timber identification is
mainly based on personnel skills as there is no proper systematic mechanism to identify them. In
this research, both species were employed in identification of variations in wood anatomical
features and distinguishing the species. Authentic timber samples were collected from the
research division of the state timber corporation for this study. Mean fiber length of Mahogany is
varying between 900 - 1600 µm and Mean fiber length of Khaya is ≥ 1600 µm and Mahogany
shows heterogeneous cells in rays and Khaya mostly shows homogenous cells in rays. Up right
cell shape of Mahogany is oval and Up right cell shape of Khaya is not oval. Mahogany and Khaya
timber species could precisely be identified and distinguished using anatomical features.
