Jichimu, literally translated as 'chicken-wing wood', describes a wood whose deep brown and gray patterns when cut tangentially resemble the patterns of bird feathers. The radial cut appears less dramatically with parallel lines of concentric layered tissue. It is botanically classified in the Ormosia genus of which as many as twenty-six species may grow in China. Jichimu is indigenous to Hainan Island, and the relatively large quantity of jichimu furniture found in Fujian province also corresponds to a source where seven different species are reportedly found today, and whose materials are virtually undifferentiated, yet bear varying leaf patterns. Hongdou (red bean), and xiangsi may also be other names for related species.
