Acacia, or Suar wood - Many names - Many colors - One wood species
Phew, what a jumble of names. Acacia, Suar, Rain Tree, Monkeywood, Munggur, so many names, and all of them are actually just one wood. This is simply because there are so many different species of the genus commonly referred to as "acacia".
Common to all "acacias" is that it is a subfamily of the mimosa family, the final name is different depending on the country. The acacia in Indonesia is called Munggur, in Thailand it is rain tree and we know this wonderfully colorful wood most likely under the name of Suar.
Acacia solid wood - Ideal for Thai furniture
The wood, which is used for our acacia wood furniture, comes from the acacia Albizia Saman (bot.), Colloquially rain tree, Suar or Monkey Wood (monkey tree) and in Thailand called "Mai Cham Cha".
This wood is characterized by fast growth and an incredibly varied color scheme. Large specimens are up to 40m high and have a gigantic root system.
With its widely-unloading crown, the rain tree in hot countries is a shade donor in green spaces, but, e.g. also very popular on fields.
Incidentally, the name rain tree comes from the fact that the tree "folds in" its leaves when it rains to allow rainwater to flow directly to the roots without much resistance
From the field in Thailand to Zschopau in the Erzgebirge
The Thai rain tree is often a typical roadside tree, or in fields. Rarely is it grown on plantations.
If such a fast-growing giant like it, a lot of work falls. First, the wood is cut into blocks to be able to transport it. In most cases, the wood artists have already picked out pieces for which they already have a special use in mind. Thai furniture is often made of tailor-made pieces, eg pieces of the root of acacia trees.