Zebrawood - Nomenclature
  • Common Name: Zebrawood
  • Scientific Name: Microberlinia Brazzavillensis
  • Family: Fabaceae
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  • Local Names: Zebrano, Zingana, Allen Elle, Amouk, Izingana
  • Dialect Names: 
  • Other Names: 
Zebrawood - Geography
  • Distribution: West Tropical Africa
  • Countries: Gabon,Cameroon
  • Habitat:  Evergreen and deciduous forests, moist areas, preferring deep, humid soils
  • General: Large, discontinuous patches centered on the equatorial belt and between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Tropical and Subtropical Moist Forests (TSMF) are characterized by low variability in annual temperature and high levels of rainfall (>200 centimeter annually). Forest composition is dominated by semi-evergreen and evergreen deciduous tree species.​
Local West Africa Tree Mythos: Every big tree has a spirit. Some trees house many spirits. Whether a tree is a spirit or is inhabited by a spirit is not an easy question. The people will say: The tree has a spirit, or: in the tree there is a spirit. The spirit has a voice which the careful listener can hear and even understand if he knows the language of the spirits. This voice has to be preserved carefully by the drum maker. The boat-maker too, wants to keep the spirit of the tree in the wood so that it will protect the boatman against drowning in the treacherous rivers, when the tree has become a boat. The appearance changes, the spirit remains. Together in a forest, the trees have a collective spirit, powerful enough to be revered as a god. In Honor of this majestic tree, Akashic Grove retains that spirit of the jungle in each of its unique pieces, offering the spirit a continued existence within this new form as your furniture centerpiece. 
Zebrawood Tree - Characteristics 
  • Tree Size: 65-130 ft (20-40 m) tall
  • Trunk Diameter: 4-5 ft (1.2-1.5 m) trunk diameter
  • Heartwood Color: Heartwood is a light brown or cream color with dark blackish brown streaks 
  • Sapwood Color: The sapwood is pale white
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Sanded
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Sealed
Zebrawood is an exotic wood native to the Western African countries of Cameroon and Gabon. It is a hard wood, with a medium to coarse texture. The Zebra-like appearance is due to the light colored sapwood in contrast with the dark colored grain. Zebrawood is excellent for wood turning, veneer, furniture, pens, and knife handles. It works and finishes fairly, and has good gluing properties.
  • The tree is a member of the legume family (peas and beans) and produces pods
  • If you are old enough, you might remember seeing Zebrawood on car dashboards. Wiki reports the wood was used in Cadillac and Mercedes-Benz automobiles.

A Few Examples of Zebrawood Tables by Akashic Grove

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AG002
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AG049
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AG004
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AG003
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AG002
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AG019

Akashic Grove can also accommodate Live Edge CUSTOM orders to suit any size or application.
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