Acacia wood species

[deav]

This is just a curiosity.

If you visit places like Target, Crate & Barrel, etc., they will usually have bowls, trays and cutting boards made almost exclusively from Acacia, usually made in places like China, Thailand, or Vietnam.  I know here in Northern California blackwood Acacia is a fast-growing, unwanted weed tree, and poses a great fire danger, so it's regularly removed from urban landscapes and restoration areas.

Items made from Acacia in these stores are ridiculously cheap, like $10 retail for a cutting board, due to overseas manufacturing and likely inexpensive materials.

Do you know if this Acacia is Blackwood Acacia (Acacia Melanoxylon)?  It looks like Walnut to the lay person, which is why I think its grown so popular.  There was a trend a few years back in places like West Elm and CB2 to use Mango wood for all their furniture.  I have to imagine someone found a cheap source for it and went with it.  Acacia seems to be the new trend in cheap, fairly attractive woods.

 

[CWTaylor]

I have noticed that too. They must be taking advantage of a large stockpile somewhere of cheap Acacia. I like the look of acacia because of the sap and heartwood contrast. I have hand-scraped acacia floors through out my house and I can tell you, it was not cheap.

[bob493]

I actually think the cheap stuff looks fantastic. I would LOVE to get my hands on some of it, but i haven't been able to find any :-/

 

 

[Barron]

According to Wikipedia there are 163 different species of Acacia worldwide, and so pinning down exactly what they are selling can be pretty difficult. 

[wdwerker]

Koa is in the acacia family.

[phinds]

"acacia" is a name that is used for over 100 different species of wood from over 2 dozen genera. About half of those 100 are from the genus Acacia.

In short, the term "acacia" is practically useless as a wood designation.