I see a lot of reference to flutes made of cocus - please can someone tell me what it is?
Thanks
Cariad
It’s a dark wood that many older flutes are made of. It’s dark but not quite black.
Many people tend to develop allergies to it.
And that’s all I know about it, having never played a flute made of it.
Cocus wood is part of the african blackwood family, to include grenadilla and ebony.
It is actually in different hues ranging from bright orange/deep orange to a chocolate brown,dark brown. The grain is usually fairly ornate and black. I have a virtually unplayed Rudall/Rose original that is a nice orange with twirly black grain. Quite pretty.
Cocus was favored in the mid 1800s for flutes, having a bright quality and, since it’s an oily wood, is good at not drying out or requiring lots of oil care, such as boxwood.
But it is prone to splitting, as many blackwoods are.
I prefer cocus over the others as the tone is full, clear and bright. It costs more now since not a lot of good cocus is available (it’s a rain forest wood mostly) and the best is usually aged several years first.
Hope this helps!
I believe this is incorrect: Cocus is not related to the blackwood family of woods. I don’t have the species names on the tip of my tongue at the moment, but I do recall they are not related. Cocus doesn’t grow (typically) in the same parts of the world either - as I recall Cocus is/was found primarily in Jamaica and…shoot, Cuba is it? Don’t have time for a web search I’m afraid, but I’m sure someone will toss out the proper specifics.
Loren
Okay, here we go:
Cocus = Brya Ebenus: Native to the West Indies
African Blackwood = Dalbergia Melanoxylon: Native to…well, Africa! 
Loren
i mistyped “african” and should just have had blackwood.
But this from long ago Rockstro:
The Cuban or South American Cocus wood also known as Grenadilla, is also a resinous wood. Its tone is also brilliant, but not as powerful as the Jamaican cocus, and it mellows with time, becoming sweeter. Unfortunately some people are quite allergic to Grenadilla and must have gold or silver lip plates added to such flutes to avoid reactions. Ebony wood has lovely tone at first, but it carries many bad characteristics.
they’re all blackwood, oily, etc…
that finally answer your question,
and west indian cocus was called
brya ebenus
with root in ebony…
yet brya is the genus for cocoswood…native to puerto rico, etc
and blackwood is actually a form of acacia, which can be found in California of all places
acacia as a whole has a habitat that ranges from coastal to sub-alpine regions and from high rainfall to arid inland areas. Acacias also occur in Africa, South America and throughout other warm areas of the world.
want more? here:
The African blackwood tree is a member of the rosewood family, with taxonomic classification in the family Leguminosae, genus Dalbergia, species melanoxylon. Its name refers to the dark color of its heartwood, which appears black and is derived from the Greek mela, or melanos, which means black…
and…
African blackwood is also referred to as Grenadilla in the woodwind instrument trade, though this name of Spanish origin likely refers to a wood of Central American origin. Cocuswood, from the Caribbean, was the wood of choice for woodwind instruments until about 1900, when it was effectively logged out as a commercial species and the alternative found to replace it was East African Ebony, or African Blackwood.
and Dalbergia Melanoxylon is often misnomered as grenadilla, grenadillo, grennadilla, etc…
and on and on and on…
David,
You being a newspaper reporter, I simply take you to mean exactly what you write 
Perhaps I should have just responded by asking you to define same “Family”
Loren
Investigative reporter, please.
With three Pulitzer nominations to my credit…er…four counting this year’s.
Now…how exactly is L-O-R-E-N spelled again?
Ah yes…unimportant detail…not worth a story at all. My mistake. 
Gentlemen:
How to manage the egos in this joint!
Goodness.
Stuart
well - thanks for all the detailed info folks!!
Cariad
Hee hee, just having some fun with you David, I couldn’t resist
Loren