''Entandrophragma utile'', called the sipo or utile, is a species of large tree in the genus ''

Entandrophragma ''Entandrophragma'' is a genus of eleven known species of deciduous trees in the family Meliaceae. Description ''Entandrophragma'' is restricted to tropical Africa.Entandrophragma C. DC. in Bull. Herb. Boissier 2:582 t.21 (1894) At least some ...

'', native to nearly all of tropical Africa facing the Atlantic, from Guinea to Angola, and as far east as Uganda. The

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

is traded as a tropical

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

. It is sometimes called sipo mahogany. It shares many of the characteristics of genuine

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

and is used as an alternative.

References

utile Trees of Africa Plants described in 1910 {{Meliaceae-stub