Category :    Medium Hardwoods

Species

General Characteristics

Sapwood well defind and sharply contrasted; pink-brown in colour; heartwood blood-red coloured and streaky; freshly cut wood of both sapwood and heartwood invariably with dark-coloured blotches (especially on longitudinal faces) which disappear after planing; planed surfaces with fair to high lustre; texture variable, moderately fine or moderately coarse; grain interlocked; heartwood hard or very hard and horny to cut across grain; air dry density ranging from 672 to 992 kg/m³ (42 to 62 lb/ft³); moderately durable if exposed to the weather.

Structure

Growth rings Concentric markings simulating growth rings.
Vessels with simple perforation; medium-sized or moderately large; generally few in number but occasionally moderately few; vessels in radial multiples of up to 4 or more interspersed with solitary pores; diffused without any arrangement; tyloses common; deposits absent.
Wood parenchyma of both apotracheal and paratracheal types; the apotracheal form as irregularly spaced bands, visible to the naked eye and the paratracheal as narrow borders to the pores.
Rays fine or moderately fine, generally not visible to the naked eye; not prominent on a radial surface. (Swollen parts of the rays containing horizontal canals may be visible to the naked eye).

Other Features

Burning splinter test: Splinter bums to charcoal.
Froth test: Negative.

Uses