Timber

Timber trees answer the basic human need for shelter, and this section works through three of the most important ones. Teak (Tectona grandis, family Lamiaceae) is native to South East Asia, occurring wild in Assam but cultivated across Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and North-West India; it is regarded as one of the world's finest timbers, with golden-yellow to golden-brown heartwood that darkens with light exposure, prized for its durability, its resistance to termites and fungal attack, and its carpenter-friendly refusal to split or crack — properties that made it the traditional wood for railway carriages and wagons, ships, bridges, boats, toys, plywood and door frames. Rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia, family Fabaceae), native to India and grown across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Central, Western and Southern India, has yellowish sapwood and a dull-brown-to-purple heartwood, fragrant, heavy, narrowly interlocked-grained and durable enough for underwater use; it is worked into furniture, army wagons, temple chariots, cabinets, railway sleepers, musical instruments, hammer handles, shoe heels and tobacco pipes. Ebony (Diospyros ebenum, family Ebenaceae), found in the tropical forests of Southern India and Sri Lanka and distributed across Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, has a jet-black, metallic-lustred heartwood, r …