Eugene, > A minor clarification: Prunus is the generic name of cherries and plums, > e.g., Prunus serotina (the only North American species of importance as a > timber producer) is the wild black cherry, Prunus being the genus and > serotina the specific epithet. I believe a number of European Prunus spp. > are marketed as "plumwood." These are all members of the rose family.
So are you telling me that there is a "family" of woods called rose, and that within that are the genus Prunus and the genus Dalbergia which we call Rosewoods. This isn't a trivial question for one who is interested in wood. Although the characteristics of wood don't always match their taxonomic groupings it is nice to know the relationships. The biggest distinction in the growing trees is deciduous versus evergreen - is that at the family level, or a higher one. And some of each of those are soft, and some hard. Do you have a good source on the families and genii. My books are limited to the genus level. Best, Jon (and I know that local names often don't match the taxonomic name, a cedar isn't necessarily a cedar). To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
