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LOURO PRETO

botanical name uncertain
louro preto refers to many different woods in different parts of Brazil and South America, but most of the pictures here are most likely Cordia spp. in the gerascanthus group unless otherwise specified

Most of the 10 or so species that have louro preto as all or part of one or more of their common names are in the two genera Cordia spp. of the family Boraginaceae, the borage family, and Nectandra spp. of the family Lauraceae

NOTE: this wood is closely related to bocote but can almost always be easily distinguished from it although there is still occasional confusion among less experienced vendors and craftspeople. There is a picture at the very bottom of the bocote page on this site that shows an excellent example of bocote that looks a lot like louro preto, and some of the pics on this page show an obvious resemblance to bocote.

cordia gerascanthus(syn. Cordia geraschanthoides) in particular causes the most trouble, as far as I know, because it shares the names louro preto (or lauro preto) and bocote) although based on looks, it is clearly louro preto.

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 louro preto / Cordia glabrata --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample 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


both sides of a sample plank listed as canalete / Cordia gerascanthus --- I note that this same vendor has labeled a different piece of Cordia gerascanthus (see the sample below this one) as "bocote"


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of "bocote" / Cordia gerascanthus --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. I put "bocote" in quotes because on this site, bocote refers to a group of woods in the genus Cordia, but NOT including Cordia gerascanthus, which is more normally called lauro preto. I note that the vendor of this sample has himself called Cordia gerascanthus "canalete" on another sample (see the one directly above this one). I also note that this sample looks more like bocote than the one above so it is possible that the vendor has the botanical name wrong on this sample and this is in fact bocote.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of "bocote" / Cordia gerascanthus --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. I put "bocote" in quotes because on this site, bocote refers to a group of woods in the genus Cordia, but NOT including Cordia gerascanthus, which is more normally called lauro preto.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of "bocote" / Cordia gerascanthus --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. I put "bocote" in quotes because on this site, bocote refers to a group of woods in the genus Cordia, but NOT including Cordia gerascanthus, which is more normally called lauro preto.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of baria (aka louro preto) / Cordia gerascanthus --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Although I note that the face grain of this piece does not have the more variagated figure that I associate with Cordia gerascanthus, the end grain characteristics are an exact match. That plus the fact that the vendor of this sample is very reliable, leads me to conclude that this piece is correctly identified.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


veneer sheet and closeup


veneer sheet and closeup


veneer with sapwood


the left side of a long sheet and a closeup; colors are accurate, but much darker than "normal" for this species


the right side of the same long sheet and another closeup; colors are accurate


this veneer was specifically listed as "dark" louro preto and indeed, the color, which is accurately shown here, is much darker than is normally found in this species


these veneer sheets were in the same bulk lot as the darker sheets directly above --- they have a lighter color but still are darker than "normal"


more veneer, of the more "normal" color for the species


louro preto veneer pic contributed by Danny Tjan, whom I thank for these and other contributions to the site. A quartersawn piece with some nice ray flakes on one side.

web pics:

planks listed as louro preto / Cordia glabrata


plank listed as louro preto / Nectandra mollis


planks


freshly milled slabs, all from the same vendor and all listed as louro preto / Cordia spp.


figured plank


scales


raw turning stock listed as louro preto / Nectandra mollis


waxed turning stock listed as louro preto / Nectandra mollis


veneer


flat cut veneer


quartersawn veneer


bookmatched quartersawn veneer


veneer, all from the same vendor


veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement


veneer specifically listed as louro preto / Cordia glabrata

---

wood from the BogusColorVendor, so the colors are suspect


turning stock --- interestingly enough, these are of the same set of planks, but notice the difference in color between the two pictures. It is this kind of lack of color correctness that caused me to create this web site in the first place.


planks


a hollow form and a turned box