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| Name | cupiuba |
| Other Names | Cupiúba (Brazil), saino, sapino (Colombia), goupi (French Guyana), kabukalli (Guyana), kopie (Suriname). |
| Botanical Name | Goupia glabra Aubl. |
| Family | Goupiaceae (= Celastraceae). |
| Origin | Brazil, Colombia, French Guyana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela. |
| Tree Description | Grows to heights of 40m. The trunk has a diameter of 0.5 to 0.9 m (max. 1.2 m) with buttress roots. The moderately well-formed branch-free trunk ranges from 12 to 20 m in length. |
| Available As | Planed timber |
| Wood Description | Heartwood is brick red to yellowish brown and darkens. Sapwood is a reddish brown yellow, sometimes with yellow patches and clearly distinguishable from the heartwood. A particularly unpleasant aspect of kopie is a cat urine odour that is sometimes given off when being processed. This odour reduces after drying, but is always present to some extent. |
| Wood Type | Hardwood |
| Grain | Straight, often an irregular interlocked grain. |
| Texture | Moderately coarse. |
| Density | 800/850/950 kg/m3 at 12% humidity, 950 to 1150 kg/m3 when green. |
| Working | Moderate. |
| Drying | Moderately fast to fairly slow. Do not dry too quickly, as wood shrinks majorly, but does deform greatly. |
| Workability | Saws fairly easily. Planing is sometimes difficult due to interlocked grain. . |
| Fixings and Fasteners | Average. Pre-drilling recommended. |
| Bonding | Poor. |
| Pliability | - |
| Surface Finishing | Good. |
| Durability | Moulds 2 - 3. Termites G. Dry wood burrowers D. |
| Strength Class | - |
| Impregnability | Heartwood 4. Sapwood 2. |
| Peculiarities | - |
| Applications | Principally used as construction timber for bridges, harbour and waterworks. In the Netherlands, it is also used for lock gates, lower bridge decks, posts and chocks, purlins and stop logs. Also suitable for crossbeams, industrial flooring, shipbuilding, garden timber, parquet flooring, stairs and turning. In Suriname, kopie is a general purpose timber. |
| Quality Requirements | - |
Source: Houtvademecum, 8e druk 2001