Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq.

vernacular West Indian mahogany — species · Meliaceae

USDA: SWMA2
GBIF: 3190485
Rank: species

West Indian mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni) — Platephotograph · Erika MitchellCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Meliaceae Juss.
Genus: Swietenia

§2a

Native status, by region

HI Hawaii Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Native
PB Pacific Basin (except Hawaii) Introduced
PR Puerto Rico Native
VI U.S. Virgin Islands Native

§2b

County-level range

· 3 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 3 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: Medium
Fire: Medium
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 40 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
Precipitation: 23–32 in/yr
pH range: 6–7
Root depth: 36 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 60 ft
Height @ 20 y: 82 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Spring
Seed begins: Winter
Seed ends: Winter
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 7,260
Propagation: seed, cuttings, container, sprigs

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: Yes
Lumber: Yes
Fuelwood: Medium
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 3 counties across 1 state.

Florida view state ↗ 3 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SWMA2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3190485 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T14:17:10Z