| | CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification and information retrieval |
Nomenclature. Family: FABACEAE-FABOIDEAE. Synonym(s): Pterocarpus chrysotrix Taub., P. holtzii Harms, P. megalocarpus Harms, P. stolzii Harms. Further trade and local names: Afrikanisches Padouk, Afrikanisches Korallenholz (DE); legno corallo (IT); barwood, camwood (GB); bois corail, padouk (FR); Africaans padoek (NL); takula (AO); m'bel, ebeu (GA); palo rojo (GQ); ba, corail, epion, mohingué, muengé, ndimbo (CM); boisulu, kisésé, mukala (CG); ngula, wele (CD); arapka, osun (NG). Code according to DIN EN 13556: PTXX.
CITES(EU) status of protection. Listed in Annex II(B).
Geographic distribution. Tropical Africa. Central, East and southern Africa, from Congo and DR Congo east to Tanzania and south to Angola, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique.
Growth rings, colour, grain, etc. Growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent. Heartwood basically brown, red, purple; with streaks (occasionally), or without streaks. Sapwood distinct from heartwood colour. Wood of medium weight to heavy and hard. Interlocked grain present. Frequently with very irregular grain.
Hardwood vs softwood. Vessels (pores) present (= hardwood).
Vessels (pores). Wood diffuse-porous. Vessels (pores) arranged in no specific pattern; in multiples; commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows (occasionally also in longer radial chains). Vessels large; very few (2–5). Tyloses absent. Other deposits in heartwood vessels (pores) present.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma present; banded and not banded. Parenchyma bands not (only) marginal; narrow; but much wider than rays. Other macroscopically visible types of axial parenchyma: aliform winged, confluent.
Rays. Rays narrow. Large rays commonly less than 1 mm high.
Storied structure. Storied structure present. Tiers 3–4–5 per axial millimetre.
Additional information. • Transverse section + wood surface. Transverse section ca. 10x. Tangential surface, natural size. • Comparison Pterocarpus tinctorius vs P. soyauxii. Pterocarpus tinctorius (African padouk, mukula). Pterocarpus soyauxii (African padouk). The woods of these two West African Pterocarpus species are not only marketed under the same trade name but are so similar in terms of their appearance (colour, figure) and their structure that they can not be safely distinguished macroscopically.
The interactive key allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, and geographical distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘Richter, H.G., Gembruch, K., and Koch, G. 2014 onwards. CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, and Spanish. Version: 4th April 2023. www.delta-intkey.com’.
