Domestic Hardwood & Imported Lumber Species

species

Domestic Hardwoods

Alder (Alnus rubra)

Alder is a relatively soft hardwood of medium density that has low bending strength, shock resistance, and stiffness.

Ash (Fraxinus spp)

The sapwood is light-colored to nearly white and the heartwood varies from grayish or light brown, to pale yellow streaked with brown. The wood is generally straight-grained with a coarse uniform texture. The degree and availability of light-colored sapwood, and other properties, will vary according to the growing regions.

Aspen (Populus tremuloides)

Sapwood is white, blending into the light brown heartwood. The contrast between sap and heartwood is small. The wood is straight-grained and has a fine, uniform texture.

Basswood (Tilliana americana)

The sapwood of basswood is usually quite large and creamy white in color, merging into the heartwood which is pale to reddish brown, sometimes with darker streaks. The wood has an indistinct grain that is straight and has a fine, uniform texture.

Birch (Betula alleghaniensis)

Birch has a white sapwood and light reddish brown heartwood. The wood is generally straight-grained with a fine, uniform texture, and is generally characterized by a plain, often curly or wavy pattern.

Cherry (Prunus serotina)

The heartwood of cherry varies from rich red to reddish brown and will darken with age and on exposure to light. In contrast, the sapwood is creamy white. The wood has a straight-grain, a fine, uniform, satiny and smooth texture, and naturally may contain brown pith flecks and small gum pockets.

Hard Maple (Acer saccharum)

The sapwood is a creamy white with a slight reddish brown tinge, and the heartwood varies from light to dark reddish brown. The wood has a close, fine texture and is generally straight-grained.

Hickory (Carya spp)

The sapwood of hickory is white, tinged with brown, while the heartwood is pale to reddish brown.

Pacific Coast Maple (Acer macrophyllum)

Its color is pale pinkish-brown to almost white. Generally there is no marked difference between the sapwood and the heartwood. Its fine grain is similar to birch and cherry with respect to growth-ring contrast. It dries easily with little degrade and has good dimensional stability after drying.

Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)

Red Oak (Quercus spp)

The sapwood of red oak is white to light brown and the heartwood is a pinkish-reddish brown. The wood is similar in general appearance to white oak, but with a slightly less-pronounced figure due to the smaller rays. The wood is mostly straight-grained, with a coarse texture.

Soft Maple (Acer rubrum)

Soft maple is very similar to hard maple in most respects. Generally, the sapwood is greyish-white, sometimes with darker-colored pith flecks. The heartwood varies from light-to-dark reddish brown. The wood is usually straight-grained. The lumber is generally sold unselected for color.

Walnut (Juglans nigra)

The sapwood is creamy white, while the heartwood is light brown to dark chocolate brown, occasionally with a purplish cast and darker streaks. It is usually supplied steamed, to darken the sapwood. The wood is generally straight-grained; sometimes with wavy or curly grain that produces an attractive and decorative figure.

White Oak (Quercus spp)

The sapwood is light-colored and the heartwood is light-to-dark brown. White oak is mostly straight-grained with a medium-to-coarse texture. Having longer rays than red oak, white oak has more figure.

Imported Lumber

Beech (Fagus sylvatica)

Pale cream color, sometimes with a pink or brown hue. Steamed gives the wood a more golden tone. Flatsawn faces tend to be very plain, while quartersawn faces exhibit a silvery fleck pattern. Fine to medium texture, moderate luster and even grain

Sapele (Entandrophragma cylindricum)

Sapele is a African red wood with some similarities to African Mahogany. Sapele tone is very similar to Mahogany it has a warm, rich, and wood tone. Sapele is valued because of it’s figuring and stripes that really stand out when finished.