Thomas Poracky, age 15, of Youngstown, Ohio, for his question:

What exactly is rosewood?

When a salesman tells you that a handsome guitar is made of rosewood, you can expect to be quoted a very handsome price. Rosewood has three qualities that make it expensive. It is beautiful, durable and very hard to come by. No    they don't get it from rose trees or from any plant related to the rose family. It comes from several small and medium sized trees of the pea family, Leguminosae. Different varieties grow in Brazil, Honduras and Jamaica, Africa, Madagascar and parts of Asia. Many of them grow in steamy jungles    which adds to lumbering and marketing difficulties.

Rosewood gets its name from a delicate scent of roses that lingers with it. It is much admired by cabinet makers because it takes a hard, glossy polish. Its rich color is dark reddish brown with silky hints of purple. Often its basic color is vaguely streaked with black. Furniture made of solid rosewood is rare and horribly expensive. Usually it is sliced in thin layers and pasted as a veneer on less costly woods.