Category :    Heavy Hardwoods

Species

General Characteristics

Sapwood only moderately distinct from heartwood unless blue-stained; colour of heartwood yellow-brown. Sometimes with a light greenish tinge (like chengal); weathering to a dark tan-brown; planed surface not particularly lustrous; with occasional stripe figure; texture fine and even; grain spiral, wavy or interlocked; very hard and horny to cut across grain: air dry density ranging from over 865 to 1220 kg/m³ (54 to 76 lb/ft³); very durable even under adverse conditions.

Structure

Growth rings ill-defined but concentric marking occasionally present.
Vessels with simple perforation; small to medium-sized, mostly small; moderately numerous to numerous; mostly solitary with some radial or oblique pairs and radial multiples of 3 to 4; evenly distributed, but with a tendency to form short oblique lines; tyloses variable, abundant in some species but only sparse in others.
Wood parenchyma variable, ranging from sparse to abundant; of both the apotracheal and paratracheal types. Apotracheal parenchyma as irregularly spaced bands of variable width, with or without diffuse strands or short narrow tangential lines. Paratracheal parenchyma as narrow vasicentric, aliform or locally confluent.
Rays moderately fine to medium-sized, visible to the naked eye, distinct but not conspicuous on a radial surface.
Ripple marks absent.

Other Features

Burning splinter testAll species burn to ash. Froth test: Negative.

Uses