Teak
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Teak. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
Tectona grandis, one of the most valuable timbers known; the wood of a large deciduous tree (natural order Verbenacea) with leaves from 10 to 20 inches in length, and from 8 to 15 inches in breadth. The tree, which has small white flowers in panicles, is found in central and southern India, where however, it is now scarce in some localities in which it was formerly plentiful. There are extensive forests of it in Burma and Siam, and it extends into Java and some neighboring islands. In India growing teak is placed under the management of a conservator of forests, and very little is now exported from that country. The wood is of a quiet yellow color, tending to brown, and like many other kinds of timber has a characteristic odor. It is classed as a hardwood, though it is only of medium hardness, taking, however, a good polish; and it is straight grained and strong. Teak does not shrink much in seasoning, and it is believed to expand and contract less by differences of temperature than most woods. A sticky elastic extract, to some extent resembling india-rubber, is obtained from teak by treating the wood with naphtha or ether. It is probably this which prevents iron in contact with it from rusting; hence its use for backing the armor plates of warships. The pores of the wood are sometimes filled with a white substance, which has been ascertained to be phosphate of lime (calcium phosphate). There is a high percentage both of this substance and of silica in the ash of teak, and this no doubt explains why carpenters and other White tradesmen consider it gritty. ants rarely attack the wood if it is sound, but nevertheless logs of it are often badly worm-eaten. In India teak is used for all kinds of work where strength and durability are required, such as for building ships, houses and bridges, also for the construction of railway carriages and furniture. In England it is largely employed in The leaves of the tree ship-building. yield yield a a red dye. Being of large size they are used in India for plates and for thatching. African teak (Oldfieldia Africana) is imported from the W. coast of Africa; it is also a valuable timber, but less so than true teak.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
tek, a tree of eastern India yielding excellent ship timber. Teak is a forest tree, eighty to two hundred feet high, with leaves, flowers, and seeds that establish its relationship to our garden verbenas. Teak timber is light and strong, resembling mahogany in appearance. It is particularly able to withstand the attacks of boring in sects. Elephants are employed in Farther India carrying logs of teak balanced across their tusks. One elephant will do the work of many men, picking up his own timber, avoiding obstacles with nicety, and piling with care. All he asks in return is an armful of sugar-cane. Teak is not subject to the attacks of white ants. For that reason it is a valuable railway timber. Oak rusts iron by contact, but teak contains an oil, the same that renders it unpalatable to ants, which preserves iron from rust. Teak wood is desirable therefore, for all parts of a ship where wood and iron are joined. Singapore is an important teak market. See Siam
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both accounts describe teak as a wild forest tree of India, Burma and Siam, and Collier's already noted in 1921 that it was "now scarce in some localities in which it was formerly plentiful" — that trend continued, and today most teak in trade is plantation-grown, in Indonesia, Africa and Latin America (Costa Rica, Brazil, Ghana) as well as Asia, while old-growth natural teak survives mainly in Myanmar. That Myanmar timber is now the object of Western sanctions: after the 2021 military coup the EU and United States placed the state Myanma Timber Enterprise under sanctions, making legally imported Burmese teak scarce in Europe and North America. Botanically the tree has moved house since these entries: teak's family, the Verbenaceae of Collier's, was broken up by molecular studies in the 1990s and Tectona grandis is now placed in the mint family, Lamiaceae. The old claims about the wood itself still hold — its oils resist rot and insects and it remains the standard decking timber for yachts — though Aiton's elephants working "for an armful of sugar-cane" have largely given way to machinery.
Written for this edition, 2026.