Description
The rosewood (or palisander) is an exotic tree that reaches heights of up to 30 meters with large, blue or red flowers and a fragrant, hard and dense black-violet wood that grows especially in the tropical areas of India, Brazil and Madagascar. It has been mostly used in the past in the wood industry, fine carpentry and wooden sculpture. It has also been used to make musical instruments, especially acoustic guitars, violins, violoncello and double bass. So we may say it sounds good. From its wood is also extracted an essential oil used, due to its multiple properties, in aromatherapy and in the cosmetics industry.
History
The massive exploitation of the rosewood for centuries, due to its quality and implicitly the value attributed to it, brought it very close to extinction, a few decades ago. This has prompted CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) to bring the rosewood to the status of a species protected under the international laws, its exploitation being limited and its future saved. The neck of the famous “Gibson ES-150” guitar, the first large-scale electric guitar, a model that debuted in the market in 1936 and was made popular by the famous jazz musician of that era Charlie Christian (and later by the vast majority of the musicians American jazz and swing), was exclusively made from rosewood.
Properties
Due to its intense and elegant colour, the pleasant, persistent odour and the ease of its processing, rosewood was and is mainly used in the wood industry. It also possesses a special acoustic, which made it extremely wanted in the field of musical instrument manufacture, more than 20 distinct instruments being made, at a large scale, at least in part, from rosewood.
The essential oil of rosewood, a sweet, floral, woody and slightly spiced oil extracted from its wood, is recognized for its many benefits to the body and spirit alike. Known as an antibacterial and antifungal, it also has a tonic role, stimulating muscles and regulating emotional states. Essential rosewood oil is especially used in the cosmetics industry, especially in the composition of creams and natural soaps, due to its anti-aging, regenerative, rejuvenating and elasticity properties.