Category: Species

As you may have noticed, this month we’ve been focusing on exotic hardwoods.  While South American varieties are by far the most popular, there are a few species from other parts of the world that have also made an impression on the hardwood flooring scene.  Here we offer one final installment in our exotic hardwoods series—a look at some popular species from Africa. Asia and Australasia.

Africa

Wenge (African Rosewood, Faux Ebony)

Wenge is one of the darkest natural woods available for hardwood flooring.  At its heart, from which most clear grade wood for flooring it can be almost black, hence the name “faux ebony”.  Its grain is very similar to that of Red Oak, but it is about 26% harder than the North American species.  Like most exotic hardwood, Wenge is typically milled prior to export and can be very difficult to acquire in lengths longer than 7 feet.  Since Wenge is rare to begin with, special orders of the raw lumber are uncommonly costly.

Grown in the Congo region of Central Africa and the southern regions of Tanzania and Mozambique, Wenge is not as abundant as other exotic hardwoods and is highly prized for its uniquely dark color.  It is also a durable wood that resists denting and daily wear, but it can swell significantly if not carefully acclimated prior to installation.

African Padauk (Vermillion)

Usually pronounced “pah-DUKE”, this strong, stable wood is one of the more abundant African hardwoods, though it is not nearly as common as its South American counterparts.  When first milled, it tends to be reddish-orange at its heart, but changes dramatically in color over time, darkening to deep purplish brown or even close to black.  UV-inhibiting finishes can delay this effect, but eventually, all Padauk will shift from the brighter orange-ish to a darker reddish brown.

Grown in the tropical regions of Central and Western Africa, Padauk is one of the few exotic hardwoods sometimes milled in the U.S. and Canada.  Its grain is usually straight and, in a quartersawn variety, it displays ribbons of color similar to those of Brazilian Cherry.

Zebrawood

This is one of the most distinctive hardwoods out there and really lives up to the exotic classification.  Though its rarity and resulting high price make it a rare choice for large spaces, zebrawood flooring is not unheard of.  As one might imagine from its name, zebrawood has a pronounced and unusual grain that creates stripes of blonde and very dark brown, reminiscent of the stripes of a zebra.  Depending on how the wood is cut, these “stripes” may be chaotic and wavy (plain sawn) or quite straight and uniform (quartersawn).

Zebrawood has been considered a luxury wood for decades, showing up in places like Cadillac Mercedes automobiles, high-end decorative furniture, and all over Prada’s flagship Manhattan store.  Unfortunately, its popularity has led to its becoming endangered in its native West Africa and responsible hardwood flooring distributors, including MacDonald Hardwoods, rarely carry it.  However, a similarly striped wood called Tigerwood, which is grown in South America and is somewhat more abundant, can sometimes be easier to find.

Australia and Southeast Asia

Jarrah (Eucalyptus)

Jarrah is one of many varieties of Eucalyptus found in Australia.  It is a popular choice for flooring because of its hardness and durability as well as the variety of color it offers, ranging from shades of red to grey tones.  Though its grain is mostly consistent, it often features beautiful darker streaks and sometimes creates small knots and pitch pockets, giving it a unique character.

The color of Jarrah tends to change very little over time, but it is a less stable wood when it comes to moisture and, like Wenge, must be carefully acclimated prior to installation.  Jarrah flooring is usually available in Select and #1 Common grades.  Only the #1 Common grade generally displays the characteristic knots and pitch pockets.

Merbau

Exceptional among exotics for its stability, Merbau is a hard and durable wood with a coarse grain displaying interlocking patterns of both wavy and straight lines.  Its coloring ranges between yellow- and orange-brown, often with golden streaks, and tends to vary from board to board and even within planks.  Exposure will eventually darken the wood to a more chocolaty brown with a reddish tint.

Merbau grows throughout Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand as well as in several Pacific islands and the northern part of Queensland in Australia.

Australian Cypress

Australian Cypress is one of the paler exotic hardwoods, honey-colored at its heart and a light cream in the sapwood.  Though treated as a hardwood because of its, well, hardness, the Australian Cypress is technically a softwood like pine.  But don’t let that deter you.  While it is not as hard as some of the exotic woods we have discussed, it is one of the hardest conifers in the world, harder than Northern Red Oak, and has proven durability.

The grain of Australian Cypress wood tends to be straight and fairly consistent, interrupted periodically with tight knots throughout.  Like other woods from this region it is exceptionally stable and is a great choice if you are looking for the bright warmth of pine, but need something a little tougher.

Teak

Also lighter than many popular exotic hardwoods, Teak, which grows throughout Southeast Asia, is a very stable, though somewhat softer wood.   It ranges from a pale cream color at its sapwood to golden brown at its heart.  Like many kinds of wood, Teak does tend to darken with exposure to the sun, but it rarely becomes darker than a rich brown.

For a softer wood (still comparable in hardness to most North American hardwoods), Teak is a remarkably durable wood and is often reclaimed and repurposed for decorative arts.  Natural resins in Teak lend it an uncommon resistance to water and insect damage, making it a popular choice for bathrooms, kitchens, and outdoor decks.  It has even been a popular wood for shipbuilding over the centuries.

Of course, there are many, many exotic hardwoods on the market today.  These are some of the most common and popular for hardwood flooring, and our specialists at MacDonald Hardwoods would be happy to talk to you about any of these, or others, to help you find the wood the is right for your home.

In one of our September posts, we took a look at a few of the more popular domestic woods used for hardwood flooring.  This month, we wanted to explore some of the exotic hardwood species that have become popular for flooring in recent years.

Though the word “exotic” may call to mind wild jungles and hard-to-reach rainforests, in fact, when we’re talking about wood, it just refers to any species grown outside of North America.   Many of the species most familiar to you fall into this category, including mahogany, teak and rosewood.  While many exotic species do originate in the tropics, there are a few that come from other places as well.  We will get into the origins of specific species later, though.

Why do people choose exotic woods?

Appearance

Most exotic wood species have a color and grain that is very distinct, and much different from those found in domestic woods, which tend to be a bit more consistent and subtle.  Many exotic hardwoods show a striking difference in color from heartwood to sapwood, from board to board, or, as with zebrawood and tigerwood , even from grain to grain.  Consequently, a hardwood floor made from an exotic species tends to make a bolder statement and be more striking in home, though always with the characteristic warmth of wood.

Durability

Taken as a whole, exotic hardwoods tend to be denser and harder than domestic woods, testing higher on the Janka hardness scale in the majority of cases.  This lends strength and durability to their inherent beauty, enabling simpler finishes that let that beauty shine through.  They also tend to require less maintenance as a result, and their unique grain patterns often hide scuffs and scratches better than more uniform domestic species.  Of course, modern advances in the industry tend to ensure that any hardwood, exotic or domestic, is likely to last a lifetime and longer.

What are the challenges of exotic hardwood?

Color changes

As you have probably learned by now, any wood species should be expected to change color over time, especially if exposed to the sun’s UV light.  Many exotic wood species seem to have a higher tendency toward such changes, and the difference is often more dramatic than in most domestics.  Before you choose a species, you should talk to one of the professionals here at MacDonald Hardwoods to be sure you know what to expect as your floors age.

Resistance to finishes

The density that lends exotic hardwoods their hardness can also make them resistant to added color or complex finishes.  Fortunately, most people who opt for exotic hardwood do so for its natural coloring, and often opt for protective oil-based finishes rather than stains or polyurethanes.  If you do choose to finish your exotic hardwood, do your research and make sure that your finish is known to take well on the specific species you’ve chosen.

Less stability

Remember, tropical woods are far from home in North America.  They come largely from climates that are fairly consistent in temperature and high in humidity.  They are not always well adapted, then, for the drastic changes in both temperature and humidity experienced throughout most of the U.S.  For this reason, it is especially important that exotic hardwood flooring be installed by someone with experience in accommodating the higher expansion and contraction rates of these reactive woods.  It may also be advisable to choose an engineered variety over a solid exotic hardwood, as an engineered plank will consist largely of more stable woods, with a layer of your beautiful exotic on top.

Availability

In general, the more popular exotic hardwoods are widely available as both engineered and solid flooring, but, especially if you are shopping for hardwoods online or in catalogs, it is best to visit a showroom before setting you heart on a specific wood.  The availability of your favorite species can depend on the trends in your area as well as situations in the woods country of origin, including their ability to enforce sustainable harvesting practices.  You may find that the species at the core of your decorative scheme is in short supply this year and only available in a few sizes or has to be shipped so far that the added cost becomes unreasonable.  So, when thinking about exotics, try to stay flexible.

Are exotic hardwoods harvested with the health of the environment in mind?

You noticed we mentioned sustainable harvesting practices.  All around the world, the lumber industry is working with governments, environmentalists, trade organizations to ensure that sustainable practices are put in place and maintained.

Recently, the Lacey Act, which has regulated lumber production practices in the United States for more than a century, was extended to include lumber harvested overseas.  The Act expressly prohibits all trade in plant and plant products (furniture, paper, lumber, etc.) illegally here or abroad, including wood from trees that have been taken against the will of the landowner or without proper authorization or have been harvested from officially protected areas.  Those bringing lumber into the country must provide proof of provenance, declaring the country of origin of harvest and species name of all plants contained in their products.

Of course, the degree to which areas are protected varies from country to country, but organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council are making it easier to ensure that exotic hardwoods are ethically harvested by following their path of production and giving lumber that passes muster their seal of approval.

You can read more about where wood flooring comes from in our earlier post on the subject, here.

Ready to take the exotic wood plunge?

Be sure to check back in the coming weeks for more on some specific species that are sure to make your heart flutter and, in the meantime, take a look at some of the exotic hardwoods in the MacDonald Hardwoods gallery.

Tigerwood image by Jim_K-Town via flickr, some rights reserved.