Tropical wood · Africa
Musine wood
Musine (Croton megalocarpus, family Euphorbiaceae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,350 lbf (6,005 N), and air-dry it weighs about 44 lb/ft³ (705 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 377–378.
Other names, by country: Mlalai, Muhande (Tanzania).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,350 lbf (6,005 N)
- Green: 1,300 lbf (5,783 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,300 lb for green material and 1,350 lb for dry.”
- Air-dry density
- 44 lb/ft³ (705 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.57 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.57; air-dry density 44 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- Not printed
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 2 data sets, from different tests and sources, so they can differ widely; all are shown, in the sheet's order, each at the moisture content printed beside it, never restated as 12%.
| Moisture | Bending strength (MOR) | Stiffness (MOE) | Crushing strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 11,500 psi (79 MPa) | — | 6,600 psi (46 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 14,000 psi (97 MPa) | — | 7,500 psi (52 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood yellowishto brownish-gray, sometimes with dark brown to black streaks near the center of the log; sapwood not clearly differentiated. Texture medium; grain straight; unpleasant smell when freshly cut; dry sawdust irritating to nose and throat.
- Working properties
- Reported to be easy to saw, moderately difficult to machine but planes to a smooth lustrous surface, good gluing and finishing characteristics. Dust may be irritating to mucous membranes.
- Durability
- Vulnerable to attack by decay and stain fungi and liable to termite attack.
- Uses
- General construction, heavy-duty flooring.
- Where it grows
- Occurs in tropical East Africa, with an altitudinal range of 4,000-6,700 ft; used as a shade tree in coffee plantations.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 377–378, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for flooring with the species picker
Weigh musine against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.