TULIPWOOD
BOTANICAL NAME: I'm not sure who to believe on this, but the consensus as far as I have been able to determine, goes like this: At one point Brazilian tulipwood was taken to be the species Physocalymma scaberrima but that was subsequently found to be mistaken. THEN it was taken to be Dalbergia frutescens (syn. D. variabilis) and then THAT was found to be incorrect. The correct name is Dalbergia decipularis, BUT the widespread practice in the USA is to name it Dalbergia frutescens even though that appears to be incorrect. I have put onto this page all of the wood that are given with ANY of those botanical designations, but I have no idea if they are all in fact Dalbergia decipularis or if some of them really are Dalbergia frutescens. Most were listed with no botanical name given.
To further muddy the waters, at least one wood scientist says that DNA testing shows that there are NOT two separate species and that all wood listed as D. decipularis and D. frutescens are the same species regardless of what name you choose to call it.
NOTE: BOth The Plant List and the GRIN database agree that Dalbergia decipularis and Dalbergia frutescens are accepted names of separate species with Dalbergia variabilis being a synonym for Dalbergia frutescens. The GRIN database, however, does not list tulipwood as one of the common names for Dalbergia frutescens but rather calls it jacarandá-rosa.
WHATEVER the botanical name is (/ names are), the wood is quite distinct and not likely to be confused with any other regardless of what it is called.
NOTE: Tulipwood’s name is occasionally confused with the North American tulip tree (liriodendron tulipfera), better known as yellow poplar, but the two have nothing in common.
Tulipwood is a true rosewood
COMMON NAMES: bois de rose, Brazilian tulipwood, jacaranda rosa, pau de fuso, pau rosa, pinkwood
TYPE: hardwood
COLOR: Heartwood is cream colored to salmon colored but dominated by stipes of red, violet, purple and rose --- generally the red streaking dominates. The sapwood is yellow to yellowish white. Heartwood color fades with age. This is a strikingly beautiful wood.
GRAIN: straight to wavy or roey. One report says interlocked but that absolutely has not been my experience.
TEXTURE: most reports say moderately fine; my own experience is that it is moderate to very fine
PROPERTIES / WORKABILITY: most reports agree that it is very hard, heavy and strong, difficult to work with and causes severe blunting of cutting edges. Boring for nails and screws is necessary; splinters easily. glues easily. Low shock resistance and stiffness. My own experience is only in turning, but it turns very easily, although it tends to be full of small cracks (and sometimes large ones --- heartwood flaws are widely commented on).
DURABILITY: the sapwood is not as durable as the heartwood.
FINISH: polishes to a beautiful natural luster
STABILITY: stable in service is good
BENDING: very low bending strength
ODOR: distinct --- a fragrant scent reminiscent of flowers when the wood is cut
SOURCES: all reports agree on northeastern Brazil as the primary source, some also say Central and Latin America; Brazil, Colombia, Guyana and Venezuela
USES: this wood was a favorite in French furniture in the Empire period but because of the small size and very high cost it is generally found today only in inlays, marquetry, turnery, and other small decorative fancy goods.
TREE: grows 20' to 35' high and less than 16" in diameter and the growth is slow, with trees taking as much as centuries to mature even though they are quite small.
WEIGHT: moderate to heavy
DRYING: no reports found but the heartwood checking that is widely reported on leads me to believe that drying presents problems.
AVAILABILITY: very scarce
COST: very expensive --- expect to pay upwards of $50 per board foot and $80 to $100 would not be unusual.
web quotes:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If we get in 500 board feet, we might get one 8" board; it’s usually 2"-6", said Dave Muelrath, of TradeWinds, a wholesaler in Grafton, Vt.
With Brazilian rosewood on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Title I list, Muelrath said the supply problem is endemic to the dalbergia species from Brazil. He said Brazilian officials are scrutinizing all dalbergia species, which includes tulipwood and kingwood.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Most of the lumber we sell is 4/4. It doesn’t run very big; 3" is probably the average width, said Clay Eisenbrand, of Eisenbrand, Inc. Exotic Hardwoods, a retailer and wholesaler in Torrance, Calif. You can get a board 4"-5" wide, but they are few and far between.
it’s a tough one to get, Esienbrand siad. You order it, and it could take half a year to get it. Demand isn’t a problem, supply is the problem.
Quality is a problem, Eisenbrand said. Because tulipwood is such a small tree, the heart check is hard to get away from, and as a smaller log, the defect shows up.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dealers contacted by Woodshop News said maintaining a consistent supply of tulipwood is a major problem.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The tree has a heart check, and because of its small size, defect is prevalent.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tulipwood is short in supply, but not in figure
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Once the sapwood is cut away, the heartwood rarely reaches 6" in width. Due to the tree’s limited growth, tulipwood lumber is only available in small sizes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tulipwood is an excellent accent wood and is used in inlay work, marquetry, turnery, bandings, jewelry boxes, archery bows, pool cues, marimba keys and veneer.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It’s very hard to get, said wholesaler Matt Westmoreland, of World Timber Corp. in Hubert, N.C. I just emptied a dry kiln, had about 500 board feet and I could have sold it twice over. From what I see, the billets are very small; the lumber ranges from 2' to 4-1/2'.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It is one of the few pink woods that there are ... people go nuts over it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tulipwood is a beautiful exotic, brilliantly colored, unusually figured, but in limited supply.