Category :    Light Hardwoods

Species

General Characteristics

Sapwood lighter-coloured, not sharply defined but moderately distinct from heart-wood; colour of heartwood yellow-pink when freshly cut, weathering to a fawn or light pink colour; planed surface very lustrous: stripe figure on radial surface; texture moderately coarse but even; grain interlocked; soft or moderately hard to cut across grain; air dry density ranging from 415 to 625 kg/m³ (26 to 39 lb/ft³) averaging 544 kg/m³ (34 lb/ft³); not durable in exposed positions or in contact with the ground.

Structure

Growth rings absent.
Vessels with simple perforation; medium-sized or moderately large; few or moder¬ately few in number; mostly solitary, the rest in radial or oblique pairs or radial multiples of less than 4 in a series: evenly distributed but with a tendency to form short, oblique lines; tyloses sparse or absent; deposits absent.
Wood parenchyma sparse; paratracheal, as narrow incomplete border to the vessels (often not distinct with a lens) and apotracheal type as irregularly spaced bands containing vertical resin canals.
Rays medium-sized and visible to the na- ked eye; fairly conspicuous on a radial surface.
Ripple marks absent

Other Features

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

Uses