sapodilla

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SAPODILLA

Manilkara spp.
Manilkara spp. of the family Sapotaceae, including at least Manilkara huberi, Manilkara jaimiqui, Manilkara valenzuelana, and Manilkara zapota and may also include Manilkara bidentata, which is usually sold as bulletwood or massaranduba and has its own page on this site as bulletwood. The Plant List lists 53 (!!!) synonyms for Manilkara zapota, which is quite humorous to those who prefer common names and don't believe botanical names are all that unique. Also on this page is Manilkara bahamensis (wild sapodilla).

This is a very hard, heavy wood but works reasonably well. It grows throughout Latin and Central America and is used primarily for heavy construction due to its strength.

The wood is a rich pink when first exposed but fairly quickly turns brown, thus creating a "rare steak" effect in planks that have developed the brown outside but have freshly exposed insides, as you can see below.

Sapodilla and bulletwood share several common names in the genus Manilkara. The only distinguishing features that I can find are: (1) sapodilla often has smaller pores and longer radial pore strands (2) some sapodilla has a distinct orange/tan color that you don't see in bulletwood (3) some bulletwood has banded parenchyma that is almost invisible at 10X whereas in sapodilla it is almost always quite visible at 10X (4) bulletwood generally tends to be darker in color
species	bulletwood	massaranduba	sapodilla
Manilkara bahamensis			✔
Manilkara bidentata	✔	✔	✔
Manilkara excisa			✔
Manilkara huberi	✔	✔	✔
Manilkara jaimiqui	✔	✔	✔
Manilkara kauki			✔
Manilkara littoralis	✔
Manilkara multinervis	✔
Manilkara riedleana	✔
Manilkara subsericea		✔
Manilkara valenzuelana			✔
Manilkara zapota			✔

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 sapodilla / Manilkara zapota --- 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 sapodilla / Manilkara zapota --- HUGE enlargements are present.

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

plank, raw --- no surfacing at all and it has what I discovered to be a rust colored patina

plank and end grain --- this was cut from the plank directly above and you can see the significant difference in color now that I've sanded off the patina. Also, note the salmon pink inside and note that the darker color goes into the wood a good 1/4 inch --- I have no idea whether this is a function of how long the wood has been dried but the vendor I bought it from describes the look, very appropriately I think, as a "rare steak" appearance that he says changes to a more solid brown over time.

end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above --- this was taken many years after the pics above and the "raw steak" color is long gone

side grain closeup of the same piece

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

both sides of a sample plank of sapodilla / Manilkara zapota --- 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 only explanation for why the color on this is so far off of the other pieces here is species differences. The end grain characteristic are the same as the other pieces, aside from the color difference.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of sapodilla / Manilkara zapota --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. I note that the vendor of this sample has it as "curly". Well, technically, yeah it is, but the curly is very weak.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of wild sapodilla / Manilkara bahamensis --- 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

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of sapodilla burl / Manilkara zapota --- 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

The Wood Book pics

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
sapodilla (listed as Sapota achras, which is now taken as just a syn. for Manilkara zapota) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views

web pics:

plank from the vendor who sold me all the pieces you see above in "my pics". I think he got the color too far into the red on this pic

cutoffs listed as zapote and identified as being from the tree used to create chicklet gum, which identified it as manilkara zapota, which is one of the woods that uses the name sapdilla in the USA. I have no explanation for the very rich color except that perhaps these were freshly cut, plus they appear to be waxed. Both levels of enlargement are present.

plank

planks listed as sapodilla / Manilkara zapota

a very well-photographed, 3" long, piece listed as sapodilla / Manilkara zapota --- the size is approximately 3" x 1.25" and both levels of enlargement are present so the grain shows up very nicely. This piece was not listed as curly but it obviously is. I've never seen sapodilla this dark.