What's the rarest wood in the world?

Hello Top19,

According to Kestrelcreek Wood Identification, Snake Wood is the
rarest wood in the world. Pink Ivory and Brazilian Rosewood are also
mentioned as being very rare.

Snake Wood: 
?Piratinera guianensis also called Letterwood. 
Reddish brown with irregular black speckles or stripes. 
Very hard & heavy, fine texture and takes a superior shine. 
Extremely rare (it has been said that this is the rarest wood in the
world). It certainly is one of the most expensive. Surinam?

Pink Ivory:
?(Birchemia zeyheri) Bright pink to watermelon red. Hard & heavy, very
fine texture and takes a beautiful polish. One of the rarest woods in
the world. Turnery, inlays, fancy woodwork, knife handles & writing
instruments. Extremely expensive E. & S. Africa?

Brazilian Rosewood: 
?Dalbergia nigra) A beautiful light to dark reddish brown. Very hard
and heavy. Difficult to turn on a lathe without carbide turning tools.
Takes a very beautiful polish. This wood was over harvested and is no
longer being exported from Brazil. The only quality wood that is
available in the U.S. is recycled from finished furniture. Extremely
expensive It is very rare to find any Brazilian Rosewood that has not
been recycled.?

Kestrelcreek: Wood Identification and Properties
http://www.kestrelcreek.com/Wood.htm



PIRATINERA GUIANENSIS - SNAKEWOOD.
Synonym: Brosimum guianensis.
Family: Moraceae (Mulberry family).

"Common name: serpent wood, pirantinier, cacique carey, bois de
lettres, snakewood, letterhout, letterwood, sneki udu, leopardwood,
schlangenholz, bois serpent, gateado, palo de oro, amourette wood,
Bois d' amourette, Muira penima, Tibicusi, speckled wood."

?Extremely rare; a small unbuttressed tree (up to 70' high), with
diameters from 3" - 20'.
A rare, exotic, tropical hardwood from the Guianas with a
snakeskin-like appearance."

http://www.cybermango.net/tropilab/snakewood.html

Tropical Timbers of the World, USDA Forest Service Ag. Handbook No. 607.
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/techsheets/Chudnoff/TropAmerican/html_files/pirati1new.html


?Snakewood (Piratinera Guianensis) is the other main wood used for
bows, particularly earlier period bows. It is difficult to obtain and
is ferociously expensive but it does make a wonderful bow.?
David Van Edwards
http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/bow.htm



Pink Ivory 

Botanical name Berchemia zeyheri 
?A very special wood for small decorative items.  
Shocking pink to deep pink, very hard and heavy with a fine even grain.  
Quite scarce as a timber and quite singular as a wood.? 
Timberline 
http://www.exotichardwoods.co.uk/Woods/WoodList/Pink%20Ivory%20Wood/pink%20Ivory%20Wood.htm


?Pink Ivory (Berchemia zeyheri), also called Red Ivory, umNini or
umGoloty, is a very rare African wood used to make luxury products
(for example billiard queues and knives). The Pink Ivory tree grows
predominantly in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. The wood is
extremely hard and has a density of 990 g/dm³ ?
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Ivory

Pink ivory ? the rarest wood in the world, according to Linc?s literature
http://www.vintageguitar.com/gear/details.asp?ID=150



Brazilian Rosewood 

?In 1992, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES) added Dalbergia Nigra, commonly known as Brazilian Rosewood,
to its list under Appendix I. Appendix I is intended to halt all
international trade in logs, veneer, lumber, finished products and
other derivatives of the world's rarest wood species. As a result of
its inclusion in Appendix I, Brazilian Rosewood is rarely seen in the
woodworking trade today. This is indeed disappointing, because
Brazilian Rosewood possesses striking color and grain pattern and has
for centuries been regarded as one of the most treasured and desirable
woods. ?
http://www.pollaro.com/brazilian.php



Brazilian Rosewood

COMMON NAMES:   Brazilian rosewood, jacaranda, Bahia rosewood, Rio rosewood 
One of the most prized furniture and tone woods of all time, Brazilian
rosewood is now rare and tightly controlled on the world market.?
http://www.woodfinder.com/woods/rosewood_brazilian.php


Search terms used:
"rarest wood in the world"
"snake wood" OR "snakewood" rarest OR rare
Brazilian Rosewood
Pink Ivory 


I hope the information provided is helpful!

Best regards,
Bobbie7

Exactly what the answer I needed. A+ researcher.

Thank you very much for the great rating and nice tip!
--Bobbie7

FYI, both Brazillian Rosewood and Pink Ivory are highly sought after
woods in cuemaking (as in Pool/Billiards cues).  If you are looking
for these woods, you might try contacting some of the top cuemakers in
the country.  However, rest assured that no cuemaker will be eager to
get rid of these materials, and you will have to pay handsomely to
coax it from them.