Skip to content
Cochin Wood Industries logoCochin WoodIndustries

The Wood Encyclopedia

Know the wood.
Choose with care.

A practical reference to the species behind plywood, packing and timber. Compare properties, understand the trade-offs and follow the sources.

Explore the species ↓
A fan of wood samples showing a range of warm colours and grain

Plywood veneer species

The face and core woods that plywood is peeled and bonded from.

Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Aucoumea klaineanaWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Okoume

Aucoumea klaineana

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Dipterocarpus spp. (keruing group)Wood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Gurjan / Keruing

Dipterocarpus spp.

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Hevea brasiliensisWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Rubberwood

Hevea brasiliensis

Read Golden-brown sliced veneer identified by its photographer as Eucalyptus globulusWood-grain detailCropped from Philipp Zinger · CC BY-SA 4.0

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus spp.

Read Pale straight grain on a CIRAD wood collection sample identified as the Populus poplar groupWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Poplar

Populus spp.

Read End-grain detail of Betula pendula from an identified wood specimenEnd-grain detailCropped from Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova · CC BY-SA 4.0

Birch

Betula spp.

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Shorea spp. (red meranti group)Wood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Meranti / Red Lauan

Shorea spp.

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Gmelina arboreaWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Gmelina

Gmelina arborea

Read AI-assisted wood visual based on an untreated Melia dubia block photographAI-assisted wood visualAI-assisted visual adapted from Akshaya et al. · Figure 1 · CC BY 4.0

Malabar Neem

Melia dubia

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Acacia mangiumWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Acacia (Mangium)

Acacia mangium

Read AI-assisted wood visual based on the Kadam photograph in a CIFOR monographAI-assisted wood visualAI-assisted visual adapted from Haruni Krisnawati / CIFOR · Figure 5 · CC BY 4.0

Kadam

Neolamarckia cadamba

Read

Packing & pallet timbers

The solid woods that frame crates, cases and pallets.

Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Bombax ceibaWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Semul (Silk Cotton)

Bombax ceiba

Read Wood-grain detail of Artocarpus heterophyllus from an identified wood specimenWood-grain detailCropped from Vis M / Nilambur Teak Museum · CC BY-SA 4.0

Jackwood

Artocarpus heterophyllus

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Mangifera indicaWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Mango

Mangifera indica

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Grevillea robustaWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Silver oak

Grevillea robusta

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Pinus caribaeaWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Pine

Pinus spp.

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Alstonia scholarisWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Pala (White Cheesewood)

Alstonia scholaris

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Xylia xylocarpaWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Irul (Pyinkado)

Xylia xylocarpa

Read Wood-grain detail of Terminalia crenulata from an identified wood specimenWood-grain detailCropped from Vis M / Nilambur Teak Museum · CC BY-SA 4.0

Matti (Indian Laurel)

Terminalia elliptica

Read End-grain detail of Artocarpus hirsutus from an identified wood specimenEnd-grain detailCropped from Rashid Edayur · Trip Unplanned · CC0 1.0

Anjili (Wild Jack)

Artocarpus hirsutus

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Leucaena leucocephalaWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Subabul

Leucaena leucocephala

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Casuarina equisetifoliaWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Casuarina

Casuarina equisetifolia

Read

Indian commercial timbers

The furniture and joinery woods of the subcontinent.

Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Tectona grandisWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Teak

Tectona grandis

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Dalbergia sissooWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Sheesham

Dalbergia sissoo

Read AI-assisted wood visual based on a Shorea robusta research photographAI-assisted wood visualAI-assisted visual adapted from Baral et al. (2019) · Figure 11 · CC BY 4.0

Sal

Shorea robusta

Read A spreading tree in an open landscape — Azadirachta indicaTree referenceCropped and turned upright from TheSlumPanda · CC BY-SA 4.0

Neem

Azadirachta indica

Read Wood grain on a preserved collection sample labelled Swietenia macrophyllaWood-grain detailCropped from CIRAD Xylothèque · Public domain

Mahogany

Swietenia / Toona ciliata

Read Wood-grain detail of Lagerstroemia microcarpa from an identified wood specimenWood-grain detailCropped from Vis M / Nilambur Teak Museum · CC BY-SA 4.0

Venteak

Lagerstroemia microcarpa

Read
Every entry is researched from multiple independent sources — botanical databases, forest-products laboratories, the IUCN Red List and the timber trade — and the figures are cross-checked before we publish. Where sources disagree, we show the range. All writing is Cochin Wood Industries' own; sources are cited on each page.

Looking for plywood, not a species sheet?

Tell us the grade, thickness, quantity and destination — we'll quote within one business day.

Request a quote