Blue Mahoe

• Also Known As :  Blue wood (or incorrectly as blue maho)
• Scientific Name:  Hibiscus elata
• Source:  Cuba, Jamaica and Puerto Rico
• Color: Slate Gray, Blue Gray, Grey, blue green, Purplish gray
• Pattern:  Strait, Wavy, Varied Patterns 
• Similar to: na
• Uses: Furniture, decorative boxes, musical instruments, guitars, detail work

Description

Blue Mahoe is the national tree of Jamaica and get its name from the blue-green colors in the wood.  The wood can also be found in Cuba and more recently in Puerto Rico and the southern tip of Florida.  The heartwood is a blue gray, blue green, deep purple, to metal gray color, while the sapwood can be white creme or pale brown is color.  The colors can vary greatly in one piece of wood, especially where the heartwood meets the sapwood, providing a striking appearance. 

Uses

This wood is mostly used in decorative projects such as inlay, fine furniture, sculpture and wood turning. Exotic wood artists often choose blue mahoe for turnings and for scultures due to the striking variations in color that Blue Mahoe posessesses.  Blue Mahoe is also used widely as a wood for pen turning and for game boards due to its unique coloring.  Additionally it is used as a guitar wood for its tonal properties

The inner bark of Blue Mahoe has been used in Cuba for tying bundles of cigars and is harvested for more traditional uses like cabinetry. 

Blue Mahoe can vary greatly even within a specific tree so that it creates a wonderful artisitic effect.