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| Name | gonçalo-alvez |
| Other Names | ubatan (Argentina), aroeira, aroeirao, gonçalo, gonçaleiro, maracatiara, muiracatiara, guaribu, guaruba rajado, guartit, guaritá, gejuira, jequira, sanguessugueira, urunday (Brazil), gusanero (Colombia), ronron (Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Salvador), guasango (Ecuador), ciruello, ormigo, palo mulato (Guatamala), ciruello, ciruelillo (Honduras), copaiva, palo de cera, palo de culebra (Mexico), zorro (Panama), urunday para, gracile (Paraguay), gateado, roble gateado (Venezuela), kingwood, tigerwood (USA), zebrawood (UK). |
| Botanical Name | Astronium fraxinifolium Schott, A. graveolens Jacq., A. gracile Engl., A. balansea Engl., A. urundeuva Engl., A. concinnum Schott., A. lecointei Ducke, A. spec. div.. |
| Family | Anacardiaceae. |
| Origin | Astronium varieties grow in tropical Central and South America. Trade shipments mainly come from Brazil. |
| Tree Description | Grows to heights between 25 and 35 m. Branch-free trunks are straight, cylindrical, measure between 14 and 18 m in length, and 0.6 and 1.0 m in diameter. Root buttresses can grow to between 1.2 and 1.8 m high. |
| Available As | Planed timber and veneer. |
| Wood Description | Gonçalo alves is a particularly beautiful variety of wood. After finishing and exposure to light, the colour quickly turns an orangey to deep reddish brown with black stripes or flames. Batches also occur with less striking patterning and a more orangey reddish brown in colour that resembles cherry wood. Sapwood measures 40 to 80 mm and is greyish yellow in colour. |
| Wood Type | Hardwood |
| Grain | Straight to interlocked, sometimes slightly undulating. In the latter case, the wood has a particularly beautiful fiddle back pattern. |
| Texture | Fine to mildly coarse. |
| Density | (650)/750/900/(100 kg/m3 at 12% humidity, 1200 to 120 kg/m3 when green. |
| Working | - |
| Drying | Problem-free air drying. Accelerated drying can lead to a slight tendency for surface cracking in thin wood and longitudinal splitting in thicker-sized pieces. |
| Workability | Gonçalo alves is goed te beWorking met hardmetalen gereedschappen. Het is makkelijk te zagen, schaven, draaien en tot fineer te snijden en schillen. Gonçalo alves laat zich glad afWorking en fraai polijsten. |
| Fixings and Fasteners | Good. Pre-drilling required. |
| Bonding | Average. |
| Pliability | - |
| Surface Finishing | Good with lacquer and varnish. Displays wonderful patterning after sanding, polishing and/or varnishing. |
| Durability | Moulds 1. Termites D. |
| Strength Class | - |
| Impregnability | Heartwood - difficult. |
| Peculiarities | A difference is made in the Amazon area between muiracataria rajada with a wild patterning and muiracataria vermelho that has a fairly uniform brown colour. |
| Applications | Wall cladding, furniture, stairs, decorative carpentry and veneers. It can also be used for flooring (strip and parquet), indoor and outdoor woodwork and decking. It is also suitable for turning and sculpting, music instruments, brush wood and knife handles. In the countries of origin, this variety of wood is also used for hydraulic engineering construction, bridge and shipbuilding. |
| Quality Requirements | - |
Source: Houtvademecum, 8e druk 2001