open main page for all woods          open page 2 for articles



LEOPARD / LEOPARDWOOD

Panopsis rubescens

Panopsis rubescens of the family Proteaceae. This South American wood has an appearance VERY similar to Roupala montana (South American lacewood) but can often be distinguished from it with a small amount of experience --- it is darker brown in color and is harder and heavier and with a noticibly finer texture. It is sometimes called lacewood just as lacewood is sometimes called leopardwood. The two woods Panopsis rubescens and Roupala montana often confused with each other, because they share both common names and characteristics. More on that in the this link:

An illustrated discussion on the confusion among the names
lacewood, leopardwood, planetree, sycamore, silky oak and others


NOTE: distinguishing between lacewood and leopardwood is most reliably done by density. Lacewood will be about 35 to 40 lbs/cuft and leopardwood will be about 50 to 55 lbs/cuft


A NOTE ABOUT NAMES FOR LEOPARDWOOD
After much research and consultation with numerous knowledgeable wood people, this is my conclusion on the botanical names used for leopardwood and Brazilian lacewood:

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


sample piece and end grain sold to me as leopardwood / Roupala brasiliensis. SEE THE NOTE AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE ABOUT NAMES. This SHOULD be leopardwood / Roupala montana


end grain closeup of the sample piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of leopardwood / Roupala brasiliensis --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. SEE THE NOTE AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE ABOUT NAMES. This SHOULD be leopardwood / Roupala montana


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


one section, and a closeup, of a long plank


another section, and a closeup, of the same plank as directly above


yet another section, and a closeup, of the same plank as above --- the point of showing all three is to demonstrate how the flake figure can (and almost always does) vary considerably within a single plank.

NOTE: the long plank shown above in 3 different sections was sold to me as Brazlian lacewood but the density of the piece (53lbs/cuft) says conclusively that it is leopardwood.


NOT a raw wood color
sample plank, with a finishing agent, shot in a woodworking store. HUGE enlargements are present


plank and closeup


near-crotch plank (details below)


another near-crotch plank and closeup (details below)


small plank cut from the larger near-crotch plank above and shown along with a normal plank. The near-crotch plank is reaction wood and has truncated rays




end grain of the "special figure" plank showing truncated rays --- compare this to the 4 planks shown directly below, all of which have normal (continuous) rays). Also shown is the END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece


end grain of several planks; details below. The right-most plank is the "special figure" one and its end grain closeup is shown in the set above


end grain closeup of 4 of the 5 planks shown in the single pic directly above


HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of a plank from somewhere on this page, done to get another pic for the anatomy pages. LOTS of fine dust in the pores unfortunately


planks


planks


plank


plank


plank


a set of small planks and a closeup


planks and a closeup photographed at a woodworking store --- really big enlargements are present


NOT leopard wood but a closely related wood
both sides of a laminated sample plank of mahoballi / Panopsis sessilifolia which is NOT leopardwood but is closely related to it and has identical anatomical characteristics --- HUGE enlargements are present. This piece was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.


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

web pics:


end grain --- the first pic has a ridiculous black color


planks


planks, all from the same vendor, listed as leopardwood / Roupala braziliensis


planks listed as leopardwood / Panopsis rubellens. Note that this SHOULD be Panopsis rubescens


plank and closeup


turning stock


waxed turning stock listed as leopardwood / Panopsis rubellens. Note that this SHOULD be Panopsis rubescens


plank and closeup


planks and closeup


knife handle scales


pen blanks


veneer --- this doesn't look anything like the planks and I believe it is an unrelated spiecs that is widely called leopard wood (I've seen this veneer sold by at least 3 vendors), but I'm not sure yet WHAT species it is. One of the joys of "common" wood names.




guitar by Gregory Pizzeck; enlargements are present


shaker set


segmented vase and detail --- both levels of enlargement are present


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. I believe these bowls are all about 5" across.


pen turned from leopardwood / Roupala brasiliensis. Photograph contributed to the site by the pen turner, Bruce Selyem, whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The pen is finished with ca glue. Note that this SHOULD be Panopsis rubescens