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| Pen #65 |
| Wood Information |
| Mopane (or Mopani) Colophospermum mopane; Family: Leguminosae, subfamily: Caesalpinioideae - the legume or pea family Distribution: Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, northern area of South Africa. Tree: covers vast areas, as far as the eye can see, with few other shrubs or trees between them. It is a large tree which has a single, straight trunk and is high-branching, with a narrow canopy. Mopane can grow up to 30 meters and 90 cm in diameter in the more humid regions and half of that in dry regions. The butterfly leaf is characteristic, and the bark is dark grey to black and characteristically deeply, vertically fissured, and flaking in narrow strips. Wood: Heartwood is reddish-brown with very dark streaks. Notable figure from the growth rings. Uses: It is a very hard and dense wood, being an excellent turning wood and musical instrument wood. Excellent for making bagpipes, flutes and other woodwind instruments. Some people even prefer the sound to that of African Blackwood, the industry standard. Mopane has long been used for building houses, fences, railway sleepers and as mine pit props. History: Dr. David Livingstone ("Dr. Livingstone, I presume") published in 1857 a work about his African missionary travels, he mentions mopane as a tree that the natives warned him to stay away from in a lightning storm, as they said "the lightning hates it". Apparently the tree is struck by lightning much more than other trees in the area. Mopane is the national tree of Namibia. |
Harding Pens and Woodturnings
| Wood Information |
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Birds Eye grain pattern
Some darker maple