Tropical wood · Africa
Monopetalanthus heitzii wood
Monopetalanthus heitzii (Monopetalanthus heitzii, family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Air-dry, it weighs about 33 lb/ft³ (529 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 461–462.
Other names, by country: Adoung de heitz (Gabon). ADOUNG
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Air-dry density
- 33 lb/ft³ (529 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.39 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.39; air-dry density 33 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 6.8% tangential
- Radial 4.0%, volumetric 10.8%
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Tropical Timbers of the World (Chudnoff, 1979 edition), the only published source read for this wood
Strength
Bending strength is the modulus of rupture (MOR); stiffness is the modulus of elasticity (MOE); crushing strength is compression parallel to the grain. The sheet collects these from published tests: it prints one data set, each at the moisture content printed beside it, never restated as 12%.
| Moisture | Bending strength (MOR) | Stiffness (MOE) | Crushing strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12% MC | 14,300 psi (99 MPa) | 1.3 million psi (9 GPa) | 7,200 psi (50 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Wood pink-brown, darkens slightly on exposure; heartwood and sapwood not clearly demarcated. Texture fine and even; grain often interlocked.
- Working properties
- Works fairly well but tends to give a woolly finish, a reduced cutting edge angle is suggested to minimize tear due to interlocked grain; glues and nails well; easy to veneer.
- Durability
- Heartwood moderately durable; sapwood liable to stain and is vulnerable to powder-post beetle attack.
- Uses
- Furniture components, boxes and crates, light construction, plywood.
- Where it grows
- Reported only in northern parts of Gabon; prefers moist soils along rivers and swampy or occasionally inundated areas.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 461–462, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for furniture with the species picker
Weigh monopetalanthus heitzii against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.