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Useful Tropical Plants

Peltogyne catingae

Ducke

Fabaceae

+ Synonyms

Common Name:

No Image.

General Information

Peltogyne catingae is a bushy tree growing about 6 metres tall.
The tree is one of the sources of 'purpleheart' timber, a high quality wood that is often harvested from the wild, mainly for trade.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References


Range

Northern S. America - Brazil, Colombia.

Habitat

Not known

Properties

Other Uses Rating *  *  *
HabitTree
Height6.00 m
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the moist, lowland tropics, where it is found at elevations below 400 metres.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The dull brown wood becomes violet or intense purple upon exposure to air and turns black when soaked in water[
46
Title
Dictionary of Economic Plants.
Publication
 
Author
Uphof. J. C. Th.
Publisher
Weinheim
Year
1959
ISBN
-
Description
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
]. It is heavy, hard, tough, medium to fine textured, durable, not difficult to work[
46
Title
Dictionary of Economic Plants.
Publication
 
Author
Uphof. J. C. Th.
Publisher
Weinheim
Year
1959
ISBN
-
Description
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
]. It is used for the interior finish of rooms[
46
Title
Dictionary of Economic Plants.
Publication
 
Author
Uphof. J. C. Th.
Publisher
Weinheim
Year
1959
ISBN
-
Description
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
].
We have no more information for the wood from this species; however we have a general description of the wood obtained from Amazonian members of this genus, collectively known as 'purplehearts':-
The heartwood is brown when freshly cut, becoming deep purple upon exposure, and eventually turning to a dark brown; it is sharply demarcated from the off-white sapwood. The texture is medium to fine; the grain usually straight, sometimes wavy, roey, or irregular; lustre is medium to high, variable; there is no distinctive odour or taste. The heartwood is rated as highly durable in resistance to attack by decay fungi; very resistant to dry-wood termites; but with little resistance to marine borers. Reports on seasoning vary, some species air dry easily whilst others are moderately difficult; they driy slowly to fairly rapidly, with little degrade to some warping and splitting. The wood is moderately difficult to work with either hand or machine tools, it dulls cutters and exudes a gummy resin when heated by dull tools; slow feed rates, and specially hardened cutters are suggested. It turns smoothly, easy to glue, and takes
finishes well. It is used for purposes such as turnery, marquetry, cabinets, fine furniture, parquet flooring, tool handles, heavy construction, shipbuilding, and many specialty items such as billard cue butts, chemical vats and carving[
316
Title
Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607.
Publication
 
Author
Chudnoff. Martin.
Publisher
USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin.
Year
1984
ISBN
 
Description
Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics.
].

Propagation

Seed -
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-03-29. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Peltogyne+catingae>

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