Tropical wood · Tropical America
Trophis spp. wood
Trophis spp. (Trophis spp., family Moraceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 770 lbf (3,425 N), and air-dry it weighs about 31–50 lb/ft³ (497–801 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 305–306.
Other names, by country: Ramón de Castilla (Mexico), San Ramón (Honduras), Gallote, Morillo (Panama), Guáimaro (Colombia), Charo negro, Marfil (Venezuela), Cuchara-caspi (Peru).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 770 lbf (3,425 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness at 12% moisture content 770 lb.”
- Air-dry density
- 31–50 lb/ft³ (497–801 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.42–0.65 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varies with species from 0.42 to 0.65; air-dry density 31 to 50 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 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 | 11,200 psi (77 MPa) | — | 6,000 psi (41 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood light to dark brown with parenchyma markings suggesting elm; sharply demarcated with the creamy to yellowish sapwood. Fairly lustrous; texture medium; grain straight to irregular; without distinctive odor or taste.
- Working properties
- Reports vary from very abrasive and difficult to work to machines without difficulty and finishes smoothly.
- Durability
- Graveyard tests in Venezuela indicate the wood to be very susceptible to attack by decay fungi and insects.
- Uses
- Suggested as a veneer for plywood and scaffolding in Venezuela.
- Where it grows
- Throughout the West Indies, southern Mexico, Central America, and the Andean region of South America into Peru.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 305–306, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for your project with the species picker
Weigh trophis spp. against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.