Dalbergia decipularis

Dalbergia decipularis (Brazilian Tulipwood) is a species of flowering plant in the Fabaceae family. It is endemic to the Brazilian state, Bahia.

It is a small deciduous tree growing from 25-40 ft (8-12 m) tall, often times with multiple trunks. The bark is red-brown in color and peels in strips. Its leaves are alternate, pinnate with only one terminal leaflet. They have 5-9 oblong-elliptic leaflets with pointed tips. The flowers are white in color, and mature into a fruit that is elliptical in shape. It grows taller in forests than it does in open areas.

The wood of the Brazilian Tulipwood has been valued for several decades. During the nineteenth century, the wood was believed to have come from Physocalymma scaberrima, but during the twentieth century, people eventually discovered the wood came from a tree in the Dalbergia genus. It was eventually misidentified as Dalbergia frutescens var. tomentosa, which is still found in some books. It wasn't until October 6, 1966 that two botanists, Carlos Toledo Rizzini and Armando de Mattos collected a sample and identified the species as D. decipularis.