Angelim

Environmental

Not listed in CITES. Believed available from well-managed sources. Check certification status with suppliers.

Distribution

The centre of distribution is the upland rain forests of the central and eastern parts of the Brazilian Amazon region, extending northwards into the Guianas and Venezuela and southward to Rio de Janerio.

The tree

H. excelsum appears to be the principal species, although some dozen species occur in the areas mentioned. They are all fairly large trees, on occasion very large, sometimes up to 45m tall and 3m in diameter.

The timber

The sapwood is whitish or greyish in colour, gradually merging into the heartwood that is pale brown when fresh, darkening on exposure to accentuate the differences between the darker fibre layers and the lighter parenchyma bands. The wood has a small figure of the partridge-wing type. The wood is hard, tough, strong and heavy.Occasional deposits of hard gum.

Drying

Reported to dry at a moderate to fast rate with little degrade providing a careful drying schedule is followed.

Strength

Comparable to beech in bending but with an MOE slightly lower than greenheart.

Working qualities

Easy - medium. Saws and works fairly well although rather difficult to plane due to alternating bands of hard and soft tissue. Nails and screws well.