The name mahogany is commonly applied to many different kinds of tropical hardwood, most of which are reddish-brown in colour and widely employed in furniture-making, boat building and other high specification uses. However, there are only three species of true mahogany, all of which are indigenous to the Americas. These are Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq.,  S. macrophylla King, and  S. humilis Zucc. The natural distribution of these species within the Americas is geographically distinct. S. mahagoni grows on the West Indian islands as far north as the Bahamas, the Florida Keys and parts of Florida; S. humilis grows in the dry regions of the Pacific coast of Central America from south-western Mexico to Costa Rica; S. macrophylla grows in Central America from Yucatan southwards and into South America, extending as far as Peru, Bolivia and extreme western Brazil. In the 20th century various botanists attempted to further to define S. macrophylla in South America as a new species, such as S. candollei Pittier and S. tessmannii Harms., but many authorities consider these to be spurious. According to Record and Hess 'all of the mahogany of continental North and South America can be considered as one botanical species, Swietenia macrophylla King'.