Purpleheart
Peltogyne venosa

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

Peltogyne venosa is a semideciduous tree growing up to 35m in height and has a heavy, umbrella-shaped canopy. The bole is straight and cylindrical, reaching a diameter of up to 90cm, and can be unbranched for up to 12m. It is commonly grown in Brazil, Venezuela, and the Guyanas. It is one of the major sources of 'purpleheart' wood. The wood is mainly used for woodworking, woodturning, cabinetry, flooring, panelling, construction, and furniture. Also, the wood yields an aromatic resin with medicinal properties. The resin is also used as as substitute for turpentine and to produce a red dye for dyeing textile fabrics.

Peltogyne venosa is a deciduous Tree growing to 30 m (98ft) by 25 m (82ft) at a medium rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. It can fix Nitrogen. Suitable for: medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil.

Height (m): 30

Where it is found

Rainforest, especially creek forest.

Northern S. America - Brazil, Venezuela, the Guyanas.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Brazil; Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of; Guyana; Suriname; French Guiana

How it is used

Food

Rating: 0

Medicine

Rating: 1

An aromatic resin extracted from the wood is used in medicine.

Other

Rating: 4

Other Uses An aromatic resin is extracted from the wood. It is used in medicine, as a substitute for turpentine, and to produce a red dye for dying textile fabrics. The bark of mature trees is used by local people for making canoes. The heartwood is a greyish purple when freshly cut, later becoming a violet purple to deep purple through an oxidation process and then slowly darkening to an attractive deep brown; it is clearly demarcated from the 5 - 10cm thick layer of creamy white to light pinkish cinnamon streaked with light brown sapwood. The uniform texture varies from fine to medium; the grain is usually straight and seldom interlocked, but is sufficiently irregular, along with variation in lustre and colour, to give the wood a pleasing stripe figure on the quarter-cut surface; lustre is medium, somewhat greasy in appearance, and cold to the touch; no distinctive odour or taste is present in seasoned wood. The wood is very hard, extremely heavy, strong, tough, and very durable in the soil, but it is most often recognized for its unusual colouring, which at times is actually purple. In due time, the purplish colour is lost and the wood turns a permanent attractive dark brown. However, the exterior brown colour is only at the surface and by removing a thin layer the original colouring can be restored. Unfortunately, the oxidation process will again prevail, turning the wood first to purple and later to a walnut brown and finally to a black-brown colour with age. It seasons somewhat slowly, with only a slight risk of checking and distortion; once dry it is moderately stable in service. The wood is moderately difficult to work with either hand or machine tools, for the wood resists cutting and dulls cutting edges. It also exudes a gummy resin when heated by dull tools; this resin clings to cutter teeth and other tool parts and complicates the machining operations. Straight-grained material saws and planes well if sharp tools are used, but some care is required on irregular-grained material to prevent pick-up, especially on the radial surface. The wood turns smoothly and requires but little sanding to bring out a good finish. It is easily fastened by gluing and takes stain and either wax or French polish well, but its purple colour is dissipated by spirit polishes. A lacquer finish is reported to hold this purple colouring. The wood splits when nailed and requires preboring; it can be veneered with a hot glue. A relatively expensive, high-quality wood, it should, in general, be put into one of two uses: (1) Those requiring wood of great strength, particularly the ability to withstand strain and sudden shocks; and (2) those requiring wood of unusual beauty or colouring. Because of its unique shades and peculiar variegated or mottle colour effect, it is particularly well adapted for use in turnery, marquetry, cabinets, ornamental furniture, counters, office desks, counter tops, carving, inlaying, billiard cue butts, swagger sticks, panelling, decorative handles, veneer parquet flooring, handles, billiard tables, and other similar uses. The good mechanical characteristics of the wood fits it for such specialized uses as gymnasium apparatus, diving boards, skis, mill rollers, shafts, and tool handles. Purpleheart is considered Brazil? s best timber for spokes in cart wheels. Because the wood has dimensional stability, it is used in the tropics for window frames and sliding shades. Though expensive, its high strength, hardness, and resistance to decay qualify it for structural purposes, house framing, bridging, fresh water piling, and for many other parts of house construction from millwork to flooring and siding.

Dye: Plants that provide dyes.

Furniture: A few miscellaneous uses that do not fit easily into other headings.

Resin: Used in perfumery, medicines, paints, soap making etc. This also includes turpentine, which is extracted from many resins and used as a preservative, water proofer etc,

Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.

Nitrogen Fixer: Plants that fix nitrogen in the soil

How it is grown

A tree of the moist, lowland tropics, where it is usually found at elevations below 250 metres.

Propagating it: Seed -

Best place to grow:

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Medium

Soil: Medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Dry, moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Amarante, Amaranth, Amaratante, Barabu, Bois pourpre, Bois voilet, Daba, Dastan, Ellongrypho, Guaraburajado, Guarab, Koroboreli, Koroborezi, Kuruburelli, Lastan, Malako, Maraka, Mor ado, Morado, Nazareno, Palo morado, Pau roxo, Pau violeta, Pelo morado, Purperhart, Purpleheart, Saka, Sakavalli, Sapater, Tananeo, Violet, Violet wood, Violetwood, Zapatero

Synonyms

No synonyms are recorded for this name.