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| Name | angelim vermelho |
| Other Name | Angelim, Angelim vermelho, angelim falso, faveira grande (Brazil), faveira preta, kuraru, parakwa (Guyana) |
| Botanical Name | Dinizia excelsa Ducke |
| Family | Leguminosae (Mimosaceae) |
| Origin | Brazil, Amazon and the Guyanas |
| Tree Description | Grows to heights of 65 m, straight, cylindrical trunk, often with high root buttresses. Branch-free trunk lengths range from 20 to 30 m and diameters between 1.1 to 1.8 m. |
| Available As | Planed timber |
| Description Wood | Freshly sawn heartwood is yellowish brown, striped and often has an orangey tint that turns to reddish brown. Sapwood is pinkish and not always clearly distinguishable from the heartwood. Angelim vermelho has a particularly rancid (butyric acid) odour that only dissipates after a long period. |
| Wood Type | Hardwood |
| Grain | Mostly strong interlocked grain |
| Texture | Coarse |
| Density | 950/1000/1050 kg/m3 at 12% humidity, 1450 kg/m3 when green. |
| Working | - |
| Drying | Very slow with risk of cracking, though little distortion |
| Workability | Despite its hardness, it can be easily machined. Planing can cause chipped grains due to its interlocked grain, but can generally be worked to produce a smooth finish. |
| Fixings and Fasteners | Pre-drilling required. Use of iron fasteners with wet wood can cause greyish blue discolouration. |
| Bonding | Supposedly good |
| Pliability | - |
| Surface Finishing | Good |
| Durability | Supposedly 1. Wood is supposedly also resistant to termites. |
| Strength Class | In 2000, Angelim vermelho was classified in limited strength trials, conforming to NEN 5498:1997, as K37. Visual sorting criteria for Angelim vermelho based on grain slope of max. 1:10. Please refer to the Dutch usage guidelines (NPR 5493; 1999, kwaliteitsrichtlijnen voor loofhout in waterbouwkundige werken ['Quality Directives for Hardwoods Used in Hydraulic Engineering Projects']) for other permissible imperfections for application categories. It is expected that it will be classified in a higher strength class following further trials. |
| Impregnability | Heartwood - supposedly very difficult. |
| Peculiarities | There can be some confusion with the following wood varieties that are called by the same name in Brazil, but are less durable. Hymenolobium excelsum and Hymenolobium petraeum, see sapupira. Hymenolobium petraeum heartwood is light brown in colour, often has characteristic black patches in the tissue and can be distinguished from Dinizia excelsa in cases of doubt by its reddish brown heartwood. |
| Applications | Heavy-duty construction such as waterworks, bridge and shipbuilding, harbour construction and sheetpiling. Also dragline planking, brick making, reinforced partitioning, truck flooring, industrial flooring and workbenches. Also suitable for sound barriers, parking bollards, fruit tree poles, etc. Angelim vermelho stains when in contact with water, i.e. do not use for park benches. Angelim vermelho can also be used as a substitute for azobé. |
| Quality Requirements | - |
Source: Houtvademecum, 8e druk 2001