similar woods

[Joel Larsson]

I read through the post on Bosnian spruce, and it kind of made it clear that it could be near impossible to determine which part of the world this particular piece of wood came from. Now, what different woods are there that look so similar to each other that sometimes you need an expert's eye to tell them apart? I have for instance heard it rumoured that some kind of African mahogany can look almost identical to maple, which - according to the rumours - has resulted in some basses been built with the cheaper mahogany but sold as maybe even highly graded maple. Anyone knows if this is true, and are there any similar pitfalls out there to be wary of?