Deal.—Scotland. The Scotch fir, used to some extent in Elizabethan England and later as a furniture wood.
Ebony.—India, East Indies, and Ceylon. Accurately, the black, heavy heartwood of a genus of tropical trees. According to legend the wood was used by the ancient kings of India not only for scepters and images, but also as drinking cups. Macassar ebony, so named from Macassar, seaport of the island of Celebes, Dutch East Indies, is notable for its close grain, intense hardness and rich hazel brown color, striped or mottled with black. It is much used in this country, where it is often known as "marblewood."
Elm.—Europe, Asia, and North America. A noble and beautiful tree, widely distributed in the north temperate zone. In this country white elm is chiefly important for furniture, with some use of rock elm and slippery elm. The wood is hard, ranging in color from reddish brown at the heart to white sap wood, and has a fine wavelike grain when plain sawed. The richly figured leather-brown burl veneers made from trunk burls of elms from the Carpathian mountains, in central Europe, are among the costliest of cabinet woods.
Goncalo alves.—Brazil. A hard and beautiful wood, closely related to rosewood. It has a rosy straw color, streaked with dark brown and black; is both sawed and sliced on the quarter, and is used for the same purposes as Macassar ebony.
Greywood or Silver Greywood.—See Harewood.
Gum.—United States. The term gum tree is applied to several unrelated gum-bearing trees in the United States, of which the wood of the red gum is chiefly used for furniture. It has a close grain, uniform texture, white sapwood, and reddish brown heartwood, the latter sometimes containing dark streaks, and known in the trade as figured gum. Tupelo gum and black gum have almost the same texture as red gum, but are white or warm gray in color. Gumwood was formerly called satin walnut in this country and still bears that name in England. Red gum is one of the most widely used hardwoods for plywood and ranks second among native hardwoods in production of face veneers and first in production of utility or commercial veneers. The sap wood is commonly called "sap gum."
Harewood (artificial).—England and the Continent. Harewood, a West Indies wood now practically extinct, was much used by eighteenth century cabinet makers. Artificial harewood, also known as silver grey-wood, is made from carefully chosen English curly maple, known there as sycamore. The logs are first cut into planks and air-dried for three months; then cut into veneer and dyed with iron salts in huge tanks under pressure, which produces a beautiful silver grey wood with a slightly metallic sheen. It is one of the most costly veneers.
Holly.—England. English white holly has been used since the time of Elizabeth for inlays. The thin veneers, having an exceptionally close texture, can be dyed to various colors. It is similar in appearance and use to boxwood, but less expensive.
Iroko.—Africa. Though not of the teak family, this wood is called African teak. It is hard, firm, of the color of a ripe cucumber, and in veneers has a waxy figure.