Category :    Medium Hardwoods

Species

General Characteristics

Sapwood not defined when freshly cut but fairly clearly demarcated in seasoned timber; heartwood straw-coloured or yel¬low-pink, weathering to a pink-brown with splashes of an orange-brown tinge; planed surface rather dull (without lustre); without figure; texture coarse but even; grain straight or shallowly interlocked or spiral; moderately hard or hard to cut across grain; air dry density ranging from 625 to 800 kg/ m3 (39 to 50 lb/ft³); moderately durable if exposed to adverse conditions.

Structure

Growth rings absent.
Vessels with simple perforation; moderately large; moderately few in number; very few solitary, the others in radial pairs and multiples of up to 6 or more; unevenly distributed; radial in arrangement; tyloses present but sparse; pink coloured deposits common.
Wood parenchyma apotracheal, diffuse or often in short tangential lines extending from ray to ray.
Rays of two distinct sizes: the broader rays distinct to the naked eye; conspicuous on a radial surface.
Ripple marks absent.
Intercellular canals absent.

Other Features

Burning splinter test: Splinter burns to ash.
Froth test: Positive (froths profusely).

Uses