Lauan plywood (also known as Luan Plywood) is a commercial term used throughout the United States that typically refers to a 1/8" - 1/4" tropical hardwood plywood panel used for underlayment in flooring, lamination, paper overlay, furniture, and millwork applications.

Meranti plywood (Lauan) is a generic term for imported tropical hardwood plywood. There are many serious disadvantages to using Meranti plywood. The raw material for Meranti plywood originates from poorly managed non-sustainable sources.

It is a heavy hardwood. It ranges in color from dark rich red through light pink to pale grayish brown. The dark woods are known as red lauan and the light woods are called white lauan. Although coarser in texture and softer than true mahogany, lauan is actually of the same strength.

Luan plywood goes by many different aliases: wiggle wood, wacky wood, bendy wood, snakewood, meranti, Lauan.