General Description: The heartwood is a vivid blood red, toning down to dark purple-brown with red streaks upon exposure. The grain is straight to interlocked with moderately coarse texture. Weight varies from 640-800kgm3 (40-50lb/ft3), average 720kg/m3 (45lb/ft3); specific gravity .72.

Mechanical Properties: The timber has excellent strength properties especially in bending and crushing strengths with medium resistance to shock loads and stiffness.

Working Properties: Despite its weight, the wood has only a slight blunting effect on tools and machines very easily. It nails, screws, glues and polishes very well and an excellent finish is obtainable.

Durability: The heartwood is very durable and moderately resistant to preservative treatment.

Uses: This attractive wood has high strength properties, durability and outstanding stability and is ideal for high-class joinery, furniture and cabinet making. Also for fancy turnery and carvings, tool and knife handles, spirit levels, paddles and oars and agricultural implements. It has a high resistance to abrasion and makes an excellent heavy-duty flooring timber, also suitable for floors where under-floor heating has been installed because of dimensional stability. Selected logs are sliced to form very attractive decorative veneers. Renowned as a dye wood.