granadillo

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GRANADILLO

botanical name unknown
This is another one of those woods where I have considerable confusion, possibly because of similar names, possibly because of a plethora of species. In any event, I will attempt to get more information.

Uh, well ... OK, I HAVE attempted to get more information and what I have ended up with is a splitting headache. This name seems to be used for just about more unrelated woods than any other name I can find, and that's saying something, given the wild overuse of some common names.

The number of species using this name runs to the dozens (and from at least 6 or 8 different genera that I'm immediately aware of, and possibly quite a few more) and the number of alternate common names for various woods that use this name runs to at least 200.

I just don't know what to make of it; what's shown on this page is anything I find that the vendor chooses to list as granadillo.

One of the woods that is generally listed as granadillo is Dalbergia granadillo and while that species is also sometimes called cocobolo, "cocobolo" is generally used in the USA only with Dalbergia retusa and that's how I've handled it on this site. Another species that is often what is meant by "granadillo" is Platymiscium yucatanum.

my samples:
NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K)
colors will vary under other lighting conditions

both sides of a sample plank of granadillo / Dalbergia granadillo --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This samples was so well done that the only processing that I did on it was the fine sanding to get the end grain update so the only explanation I have for the noticeable difference in color between the two faces is that the sample vendor much have left a patina on the reverse side but sanded down the front side before he put the label on. I've seen exactly that effect on many other samples. The vendor of this piece had it listed as cocobolo / granadillo rather than just granadillo but see the comments in the discussion at the top of this page regarding the names cocobolo and granadillo.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of granadillo / Dalbergia granadillo --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The vendor of this piece had it listed as cocobolo rather than granadillo but see the comments in the discussion at the top of this page regarding the names cocobolo and granadillo.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of granadillo / Dalbergia granadillo --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This particular piece looks EXACTLY like its close relative Brazilian kingwood (Dalbergia cearensis) but the end grain shows that it is noticbly different (much sparser pore distribution)

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of granadillo / Platymiscium yucatanum --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of granadillo / Platymiscium yucatanum --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Note that the first face was sanded to 240 grit and the second face was not and this accounts for minor differences in color between the two (the second face still has a patina) and the better resolution of the detail characteristics as seen in the first one.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of granadillo / ~~Caesalpinia enchinata~~ --- HUGE enlargements are present. The vendor of this piece has it as Caesalpinia enchinata, which, first off is a misspelling of Caesalpinia echinata, and second is incorrect. This IS, nearly as I can tell, granadillo, but it is definitely not Caesalpinia echinata. Unlike that species, in this piece the pores are too sparse, there are few if any pore multiples, and the pores have lozenge shaped aliform parencyma and, a big clue, the color is wrong.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of granadillo / Agonandra obtusifolia --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The vendor put this as "common name unknown". My database shows a couple of common names, including granadillo.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

plank and end grain

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

two small turning sticks.

two more turning sticks and end grain

plank and closeup

smaller piece cut from the plank directly above and fine-sanded (also the end grain of the same piece)

both sides of a plank and one closeup --- directly below are some shots of a piece cut-off of this plank and fine-sanded

plank and end grain --- this was cut from the larger plank directly above

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above (the update is upside down)

one side (angled view, also showing some of the top), and a closeup of that side, of the plank directly above

the other side (angled view, also showing some of the top), and a closeup of that side, of the plank directly above

the same piece as shown in the pics above, but this time dry and wet (with water) side by side to show how a finishing agent is likely to enrich the color of the wood.

planks and end grain

end grain closeup of the planks directly above

small plank and end grain

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

small plank

turning sticks

both sides of a sample plank of mottled granadillo / Platymiscium spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

web pics:

planks

two planks specifically listed as Platymiscium pinnatum. The second one is waxed.

plank and closeup listed as grandillo / Platymiscium pinnatum

plank listed as grandillo / Platymiscium pinnatum

plank moistened for the photo

several views of the same plank

long planks and a closeup from one of them

boths sides of a plank and a closeup

cutoffs

figured planks

slabs and a closeup

dowel listed as granadillo / Platymiscium yucatanum

planks and turning stock listed as granadillo / Platymiscium yucatuanum

waxed bowl blanks listed as Guatamala granadillo / Platymiscum yucatanum

listed as granadillo / Dalbergia granadillo --- the second one appears to be sapwood

guitar sets listed as granadillo / Platymiscium yucatanum

guitar sets listed as granadillo / Dalbergia granadillo

scales

turning stick

pen blanks

turning stock and scales

sapwood plank with blue stain

listed as "pecky" granadillo, but does not appear to have the pattern that is normally called pecky

listed as "Mexican" granadillo

veneer

bowls by Bryan Nelson (NelsonWood). Bryan fine-polishes his bowls with 1200 or even higher grit sandpaper while they are spinning at high speed on the lathe and then finishes them there with a friction polish of his own devising, thus achieving a shine and color vibrancy that is beautiful to behold.