NATURE’S PALETTE:

A RESOURCE FOR SELECTING WOOD SPECIES

The forests provide a natural, wondrous and renewable palette of wood species in an amazing multitude of colors and grain patterns. There are literally thousands of species globally that spark the imagination of our readers. Each edition of International Wood provides insight into the wide range of projects that successfully incorporate imported species. On the list to the right, we have made every effort to identify the species referenced in this edition by its more common name and scientific names. Clearly communicate your needs with a U.S. importer, manufacturer or supplier who can best assist you in locating the most appropriate species for your project. You can find more detailed information on most of these species in the following pages and at the digital online editon.

www.iwpawood.org.

1. African Etimoe (Copaifera spp.)
2. African Pommelé and Figured Sapele (Entandrophragma cylindricum)
3. Amboyna (Pterocarpus indicus)
4. Anegre (Pouteriaspp. formerly Aningeria genus)
5. Antiaris (Antiarisspp.)
6. Ayous (Triplochiton scleroxylon)
7. Balau, Red (Shoreaspp.)
8. Beech, European (Fagus sylvatica)
9. Birch, Baltic (Betulaspp.)
10. Birch, Karlian (Betulaspp.)
11. Bloodwood (Brosimum paraense)
12. Bocote (Cordia spp.)
13. Boxwood (Phyllostylon rhamnoides)
14. Brazilian Rosewood (Dalbergia nigra)
15. Bubinga (Guibourtiaspp.)
16. Caribbean Heart Pine (Pinus caribaea)
17. Cedar, Spanish (Cedrela odorata)
18. Chengal (Neobalanocarpus)
19. Circassian Walnut (Juglans regia)
20. Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa)
21. Cumaru (Dipteryx odorata)
22. Doussie (Afzeliaspp.)
23. East Indian Rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)
24. Ebony (Diospyrosspp.)
25. Ekki (Lophira alata)
26. Elm, Carpathian (Ulmus spp.)
27. European White Oak (Quercus robur)
28. Garapa (Apuleia leiocarpa)
29. Greenheart (Chlorocardium rodiei)
30. Guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum)
31. Hura (Hura crepitans)
32. Ipe (Tabebuiaspp.)
33. Iroko (Chlorophora excelsa)
34. Jatoba, Brazilian Cherry (Hymenaea courbaril)
35. Kempas (Koompassia malaccensis)
36. Keruing (Dipterocarpusspp.)
37. Khaya/African Mahogany (Khayaspp.)
38. Koa (Acacia koa)
39. Limba, White (Terminalia superba)
40. Macassar Ebony (Diospyrosspp.)
41. Maccaranduba (Platymisciumspp.)
42. Mahogany, Genuine (Swietenia macrophylla)
43. Makore (Tieghemella heckelii)
44. Mango (Mangifera indica)
45. Massaranduba/Brazilian redwood (Manilkaraspp.)
46. Meranti/Lauan (Shorea spp.)
47. Merbau (Intsia spp.)
48. Morado (Machaerium scleroxylon)
49. Obeche (Triplochiton scleroxylon)
50. Okoume (Aucoumea klaineana)
51. Padauk (Pterocarpus spp.)
52. Paldao (Dracontomelon dao)
53. Pau Ferro (Machaeriumspp.)
54. Purpleheart (Peltogyne spp.)
55. Red grandis (eucalyptus grandis)
56. Red Manioqueria (Qualea spp.)
57. Rosewood (Dalbergiaspp.)
58. Rosewood, Honduran (Dalbergia stevensonii)
59. Rosewood, Madagascar (Dalbergia baroni)
60. Sandé (Brosimum utile)
61. Santa Maria (Calophyllum brasiliense)
62. Santos Rosewood/pau ferro (Machaeriumspp.)
63. Sapele (Entandrophragmaspp.)
64. Shedua (Guibourtia ehie)
65. Shibidan (Aspidosperma album)
66. Tatabu (Diplotropis purpurea)
67. Teak (Tectona grandis)
68. Tigerwood (Astronium graveolens)
69. Tornillo (Cedrelinga catenaeformis)
70. Wallaba (Eperua falcata)
71. Wenge (Millettia laurentii)
72. Yellowheart (Euxylophora paraensis)
73. Zebrawood (Microberlinia brazzavillensis)
74. Ziricote (Cordia dodecandra)

REFERENCES:

– USDA Forest Products Lab: www.fpl.fs.fed.us/search/commonname_request.php

– The Wood Database: www.wood-database.com

**What does the janka ranking scale mean? **

The janka rating scale measures the relative hardness of woods. Because hardness is often an important factor and hardness varies for each species, the janka scale is an excellent tool to compare wood species and identify appropriate choices.

**2500 + **

**2000 **

**1500 **

**1000 **

**0-500 **

African Blackwood / Mpingo / Grenadilla

**Species: **Dalbergia melanoxylon

**Origin: **Central and Southern Africa

**Common Applications: ** An excellent tonewood for guitars and woodwind instruments, also for small turnings and knife handles.

**Characteristics / Appearance:**Heartwood is often completely black, with little or no discernible grain. The sapwood is typically narrow and white to yellow in color. The wood is extremely heavy and hard. The grain is straight with a fine, even texture and a low luster. It is slightly oily. It is considered among the finest of all turning woods, capable of holding intricate detail in carving. It also has good natural luster or can have a first-class finish. Recommended to pre-drill holes when screwing and nailing. Tungsten carbide recommended due to rapid blunting effect on tools. Produce a great end result when finished and polished.

**Janka Hardness Scale:**3,670 lbf

**Comments: **Considered the original ebony, it was imported and used in Ancient Egypt thousands of years ago. It is among the hardest and densest woods in the world.

**African Mahogany / Khaya **

Species: Khaya spp.

**Origin: ** West Africa

**Common Applications: **Used in boat building, flooring, furniture, veneer, cabinetry, window frames, and musical instruments.

**Characteristics / Appearance: **Heartwood is variable, ranging from pale pink to reddish-brown in color and may streaks of medium to dark brown.

**Janka Hardness Scale: ** 1,070 lbf

**Comments: ** Good quality African Mahogany can be a woodworker’s best friend–with beautiful figuring and lustrous coloring. It often has a shimmering figure. When quarter sawn the interlocking grain produces a beautiful ribbon figure.

Beli / Ekop

**Species: **Julbernardia pellegriniana

**Origin: **Africa (Gabon, Cameroon)

**Common Applications:**Used in veneer, cabinetry, joinery, furniture, and interior millwork.

**Characteristics / Appearance: **The heartwood is light to medium brown and commonly has alternating darker stripes throughout. Wide sapwood is pale yellow and lacks the darker stripes. Grain is usually interlocked with a uniform medium to coarse texture. This wood is generally easy to work with both hand and machine tools. It can be unstable in service if not seasoned correctly. It glues and finishes well.

**Janka Hardness Scale: ** 1,480 lbf

**Comments: ** Woodworkers enjoy the high contrast alternating medium to dark brown stripes and light brown heartwood. Quartersawn sections exhibit a Zebrawood-like appearance.

**Bubinga **

**Species: ** Guibourtia spp.

**Origin: ** Africa

Common Applications: ** **Veneers, fine furniture, cabinets, paneling, furniture inlays, turnings, knife handles and small craft goods such as jewelry.

**Characteristics / Appearance: **Sapwood is very pale with clear demarcations. Heartwood can be a variety of colors, including pink, vivid red or red-brown with purple veining. Straight or interlocked grain and a fine, even texture. Bubinga is often seen with a variety of unique figure.

Janka Hardness Scale: 2,410 lbf

**Comments: ** Bubinga is a very dense, very hard and heavy wood, with an exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, bending strength and shock resistance. It can be easily worked with both hand and machine tools and also turns and finishes well. Gluing can occasionally be problematic because of the natural oils found in this wood. These natural oils make Bubinga a durable wood for both exterior and interior uses.

**Garapa / Brazilian Ash **

**Species: **Apuleia leiocarpa

Origin: South America

**Common Applications:**Exterior joinery, flooring, stairs, decking, dock and boatbuilding.

**Characteristics / Appearance:**Garapa is a fine grained wood with a light yellow to warm golden brown hue and darkens with age. It has a fine straight-grained, interlocked medium texture. This wood is fairly easy to work, despite its density. It glues easily and is very stable once glued. It saw, nails, and screws well with little to no blunting effect on tools.

**Janka Hardness Scale:**1,650 lbf

**Comments:**Garapa is naturally water-resistant, less vulnerable to insects, rot and decay. With an excellent durability and a high resistance to daily wear, it has a long lifespan of 25 years or more. Garapa also features a Class A fire rating.

**Ipé **

**Species: ** *Handroanthus spp./Tabebuia spp. *(formerly placed in the Tabebuia genus)

**Origin: **Central and South America; also farmed commercially.

**Characteristics / Appearance: ** Heartwood typically olive-brown, with variations in color from a reddish-brown to a dark blackish brown. Sapwood is yellowish-white and easily distinguished. Grain varies from straight to irregular and sometimes interlocked. Ipe is a difficult wood to work with high cutting resistance during sawing and machining. It planes smoothly with tearout in interlocked areas. Can be difficult to glue properly and surface preparation prior to gluing is recommended. All of the same qualities that make Ipe a challenging wood to work with make it so desired—it is extremely hard and dense with high durability and shock resistance.

**Janka Hardness Scale:**3,510 lbf

**Comments: **Ipé is a wood of extremes—extremely dense and durable but as a result difficult to work. Its incredible hardness and strength make it well suited to exterior decking and siding. If left unfinished, graying of the wood will occur, but can last over 20 years outside without preservatives or additional treatments.

Sapele

**Species: ***Entandrophragma cylindricum *

Origin: West Africa

**Common Applications: ** Veneer, furniture, cabinetry, musical instruments, flooring, boatbuilding, and turnings

**Characteristics / Appearance:**Sapele heartwood is golden to a dark-reddish brown with a medium texture and high luster. Sapele contains an interlocking grain that produces light and dark ribbon stripes throughout the boards and is also found in a wide variety of other figured grain patterns. Sapele finishes well, with good gluing and nailing properties. It stains well and is suited to a variety of finishes retaining its color over time.

Janka Hardness Scale: 1,510 lbf

Comments: Sapele is most often used as a window and door material because it is so stable and very rot and weather resistant. The grain and pore structure is tight, making it a great substrate for painted surfaces as well. Among its more exotic uses is that in guitar manufacturing, in the top, back and sides of acoustic guitar bodies as well as the tops of electric guitar bodies.

Tigerwood / Goncalo Alves / Jobillo

Species:* Astronium spp.*

**Origin: **Mexico throughout Central and South America

**Common Applications: ** Most commonly used in exterior decking, as well as some flooring, furniture, cabinetry, carving, turned objects, specialty objects such as pool cues, archery bows, and knife handles, as well as electric and acoustic guitar building

**Characteristics / Appearance:**Heartwood is typically a medium red-brown with irregularly spaced streaks of dark brown / black. Grains can be wavy, interlocked or sometimes straight; its texture is fine, with a good natural luster. The wood has a very high density, with impressive strength, stiffness, hardness, and durability, and generally excellent working properties. It can be difficult to glue, due to a high natural oil content. This resinous cell structure results in an incredible resistance to mold, fungus, and insects.

**Janka Hardness Scale:**2,170 lbf

**Comments: **In the forest, this tree species is considered a “pioneer” to foresters, one of the first types of trees to germinate after fires, wind storms, or slash and burn agriculture, open the forest floor to sunlight. This is a very fast growing and short-lived species. The speed of growth is reflected in large cells and relatively wide average ring count of 5 rings per inch. This in turn can cause somewhat thin/fragile cell walls which can cause warp, cupping, and splits when exposed to the wide climate changes of hot/cold and wet/dry that occur in North America. However, careful kiln drying “sets” the resin in many cell walls and pulls most of the free water out of the wood. Once carefully kiln dried, it is very stable and does not shrink, expand, or ‘move’ much in service as a deck board.