Til (Ocotea foetens)
The til (Ocotea foetens), a tall laurel of Madeira's interior and northern forests, prized for its dark, initially foul-smelling furniture timber.
A member of the laurel family, 15–30 metres tall, with leathery, ovate, lanceolate or oblong leaves, hairy in the axils of the veins on the underside; small, usually hermaphrodite flowers gathered in clusters; a berry partly enclosed by a cup formed by the enlarged base of the perianth. The til (Ocotea foetens, Madeiran laurel) is found in the forests of the interior and north of Madeira, and yields timber with clearly separated heartwood and sapwood, the latter white, the former black. When freshly cut, this wood has a strong and rather unpleasant smell, which disappears completely only after some years. Til wood is of excellent quality and much used for furniture and various other work. The cabinetmakers’ ‘white til’ comes from young trees or from the sapwood of old ones.