''Dalbergia odorifera'', fragrant rosewood or Chinese rosewood (), is a species of

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...

in the family

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

. It is a small or medium-sized tree, tall. It is endemic to China and occurs in

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

, and

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. It is used as a wood product and in folk medicine. This valuable wood is known in China as ''huali'' ( 花梨) or ''huanghuali'' ( 黄花梨). Furniture from the late

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

and early

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

dynasties was made of this wood and new furniture in the same styles are sought after as luxury and prestige items. Four compounds isolated from the root of this plant have been shown in a laboratory to have

antioxidant Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricant ...

properties. A deciduous tree, ''D. odorifera'' will start shedding leaves at around December of each year in the Northern Hemisphere. It becomes dormant throughout the winter months. It was

overexploited Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term ap ...

in the twentieth century and was classed as a

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

in 1998. This reached a level in the early twenty-first century where most trees of a size for commercial use had been cut down. As a consequence, other species of ''Dalbergia'' started to be exploited in its place.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3012291 odorifera Endemic flora of China Trees of China Vulnerable plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot