Category :    Light Hardwoods

Species

General Characteristics

Sapwood lighter-coloured than heartwood but the boundary is not clearly demarcated; colour of heartwood pink-brown or red-brown; planed surface with variable lustre ranging from rather dull to very lustrous; surface speckled or flecked by the darker-coloured rays; texture moderately fine and even; grain wavy and interlocked; moderately hard to cut across grain; air dry density ranging from 495 to 975 kg/m³ (31 to 61 lb/ft³) and averaging 705 kg/m³ (44 lb/ft³); moderately durable if exposed to the weather or in contact with the ground.

Structure

Growth ring absent.
Vessels with simple perforation; medium-sized; moderately few or moderately numer¬ous; generally mostly solitary, the rest in radial pairs and multiples of 2 to 6 in a series; often with a vague suggestion of arrangement in short oblique lines; tyloses sparse or ill-developed in some species but well developed and moderately abundant in others; deposits absent.
Wood parenchyma indistinct or absent (not visible with a hand lens).
Rays fine or moderately fine, barely visible or just visible to the naked eye on cross-section; distinct or conspicuous on a radial surface.
Ripple marks absent.
Intercellular canals of the horizontal type present in some species but these are not always visible with a 10X hand lens.

Other Features

Burning splinter test: Splinter burns to ash.
Froth test: Negative.

Uses

The timber is suitable as a general utility timber for planking, cladding, plywood, particleboard, flooring, furniture, packing cases and pallets.