The heartwood is light brown or straw-colored, sometimes
with a pinkish tint. The texture is moderately coarse and the
grain interlocked. White seraya is very similar in appear-
ance and strength properties to light red meranti, and some-
times the two are mixed in the market. White seraya dries
easily with little degrade, and works fairly well with hand
and machine tools. The heartwood is not durable to moder-
ately durable in ground contact, and it is extremely resistant
to preservative treatments.
White seraya is used for joinery, light construction, mould-
ing and millwork, flooring, plywood, furniture, and cabinet
work.
Seraya, Yellow
(see Meranti Groups)
Silverballi, Brown
(see Kaneelhart)
Spanish-Cedar
Spanish-cedar or cedro
consists of a group of about
seven species in the genus
Cedrela that are widely dis-
tributed in tropical America
from southern Mexico to
northern Argentina.
The heartwood of span-
ish cedar varies from light to dark reddish brown, and the
sapwood is pinkish to white. The texture is rather fine and
uniform to coarse and uneven. The grain is not interlocked.
The heartwood is characterized by a distinctive odor. The
wood dries easily. Although Spanish-cedar is not high
in strength, most other properties are similar to those of
American mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), except for
hardness and compression perpendicular to the grain, where
mahogany is definitely superior. Spanish-cedar is consid-
ered decay resistant; it works and glues well.
Spanish-cedar is used locally for all purposes that require
an easily worked, light but straight grained, and durable
wood. In the United States, the wood is favored for mill-
work, cabinets, fine furniture, boat building, cigar wrappers
and boxes, humidores, and decorative and utility plywood.
Sucupira (Angelin, Para-Angelim)
Sucupira, angelin, and
para-angelim apply to
species in four genera
of legumes from South
America. Sucupira applies
to Bowdichia nitida from
northern Brazil, B. virgili‑
oides from Venezuela, the
Guianas, and Brazil, andDiplotropis purpurea from the Guianas and southern Brazil.
Angelin (Andira inermis) is a widespread species that oc-
curs throughout the West Indies and from southern Mexico
through Central America to northern South America and
Brazil. Para-angelim (Hymenolobium excelsum) is generally
restricted to Brazil.
The heartwood of sucupira is chocolate-brown, red–brown,
or light brown (especially in Diplotropis purpurea). Ange-
lin heartwood is yellowish brown to dark reddish brown;
para-angelim heartwood turns pale brown upon exposure
to air. The sapwood is generally yellowish to whitish and
is sharply demarcated from the heartwood. The texture of
all three woods is coarse and uneven, and the grain can be
interlocked. The density of air-dried wood of these species
ranges from 720 to 960 kg m–3 (45 to 60 lb ft–3), which
makes them generally heavier than true hickory (Carya).
Their strength properties are also higher than those of true
hickory. The heartwood is rated very durable to durable
in resistance to decay fungi but only moderately resistant
to attack by dry-wood termites. Angelin is reported to be
difficult to treat with preservatives, but para-angelim and
sucupira treat adequately. Angelin can be sawn and worked
fairly well, except that it is difficult to plane to a smooth
surface because of alternating hard (fibers) and soft (paren-
chyma) tissue. Para-angelim works well in all operations.
Sucupira is difficult to moderately difficult to work because
of its high density, irregular grain, and coarse texture.
Sucupira, angelin, and para-angelim are ideal for heavy
construction, railroad crossties, and other uses that do not
require much fabrication. Other suggested uses include
flooring, boat building, furniture, turnery, tool handles,
and decorative veneer.
Suradan
(see Pilon)
Tangare
(see Andiroba)
Tanguile
(see Meranti Groups)
Teak
Teak (Tectona grandis)
occurs in commercial
quantities in India, Burma,
Thailand, Laos, Cambodia,
Vietnam, and the East In-
dies. Numerous plantations
have been developed within
its natural range and in trop-
ical areas of Latin America and Africa, and many of these
are now producing teakwood. The heartwood varies from
yellow–brown to dark golden brown and eventually turns
a rich brown upon exposure to air. Teakwood has a coarse,Chapter 2 Characteristics and Availability of Commercially Important Woods