Santos Mahogany hardwoods have a wide distribution in Latin America, including southern Mexico down to Argentina. The very fine and even texture of this well-known and popular hardwood, along with its striped figuring, complements the attractive dark reddish brown color of mahogany wood flooring. The white sapwood is sharply demarcated from the heartwood. The grain of mahogany is typically interlocked, and the surface can have a medium to high luster. When freshly cut, it has a pleasant spicy scent.

Mahogany is typically found in wood flooring, turnery, interior trim, and furniture. This pleasantly aromatic balsam of santos mahogany is often used as an ingredient in some perfumes. Mahogany is known for its strength and beauty, and it has outstanding durability. Given its hardness and color-fastness, santos mahogany is a superior choice to genuine Honduran mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), which it closely resembles in color. In fact, although genuine mahogany is traditionally chosen for fine furniture and millwork, it is seldom used in wood flooring because it lacks sufficient hardness to withstand constant foot traffic.

Santos mahogany is one of the hardest and most durable wood flooring species. It is over two hundred percent harder than Douglas fir, is roughly fifty-one percent harder than hard maple, about one third harder than wenge, and approaches ninety-four percent of Brazilian cherry's ranking of 2350.

See additional hardwood flooring types.