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Teak is a genus of tropical hardwoods with a scientific name of Tectona. Teak is a hardwood native to South and Southeast Asia and is typically part of a monsoon forest, growing on small hills, well away from the shore line. Teak is a deciduous tree, dropping its leaves in the dry season and is not included in a tropical rain forest. It is a huge tree, and can easily grow 30 to 40 meters tall. Teak possesses a big concentration of oils and minerals, making the wood waxy and rubbery. This creates a surface that is waterproof and bug resistant, as well as a dense, straight grain to refuse bending. Teak is often golden to dark brown, however it can have a reddish tone. If left raw and unprotected to the elements, it can dim to a silvery gray, though an annually oil application can keep the natural complexion. Teak is native to Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, The Philippines and India. Teak has been utilized for over two thousand years and is noted in poetry from that century. Teak logs last forever as the main structural component in buildings centuries old in India, and also in thousand year old temples. This shows the amazing function of Teak to last when stressed is placed on it. Teak was a major 18th Century export for China, where flooring, cabinets, paneling and multiple other wood features were exported to Europe. Teak was frequently used for art objects, though the strong wood made this a difficult process, needing a lot of resharpening of tools. Later in the Victorian Era, this was greatly overcome and Teak art creations became more main stream. The strength and salt water repellent characteristics made Teak an asset to the Royal Navy, and following World War I, when many battered warships were being scrapped, the crew members were in awe by the great condition of the Teak decking and determined to save the wood. A lot of it became garden furniture, making the tradition of teak patio furniture. The Royal Navy was not the only user of Teak; the unique qualities of this wood made it popular around the world among ship manufacturers in the age of sailing. The momentous whaling ship, the Charles W. Morgan, stored in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut that was constructed in 1841 and saw hard miles with several around the world journeys but still appears like new. The continuous increasing ease of Teak building led to Teak becoming a enormous component of the Danish modern style of furniture, extremely excepted in the 50s and 60s. This furniture is now undergoing a renaissance in popularity and authentic Teak furniture from this time is very excepted with collectors and others. In addition too being heavily manufactured in Indonesia, there Dutch traders grew tree ranches in 1816. Perum Perhutani, an organization of the Indonesian Government, monitors the tree ranches today. They strictly monitor trees taken and new harvests to only keep extremely high quality wood. Experiments have exhibited that Indonesia Teak can grow twenty meters in fifteen years. Today Indonesia and Burma, indubitably known as Myanmar, are the world's largest exporters of Teak.
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Patricia Woods is a interior design specialist with a passion for teak furniture. For more information on Patricia and her line of teak steamers and loungers, click here. Feel free to grab a unique version of this article from the teak chair Articles Submission Service
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