Calophyllum

Calophyllum (Calophyllum brasiliense) is a medium-density tropical hardwood cut from a large evergreen tree in the family Calophyllaceae (formerly placed in the Clusiaceae/Guttiferae). It grows across a wide neotropical range, from Brazil and the Amazon basin through Central America to the Caribbean, and in the timber trade it is most often sold as Santa Maria, Guanandi, or Jacareúba.

At a glance it is a warm, golden-brown to reddish-brown timber with a medium, fairly uniform texture and straight to moderately interlocked grain — exactly as seen on our sample, where visible growth-ring boundaries and warm undertones stand out. It is moderately heavy, works well, and offers a useful blend of workability, appearance, and moderate durability that suits it to a broad range of construction and joinery work.

The heartwood ranges from golden-brown to pinkish- and reddish-brown, frequently with darker streaking, and it tends to deepen and redden as it oxidizes; the sapwood is lighter — pale pinkish to yellowish-gray — and reasonably well demarcated. Grain is straight to moderately interlocked, which produces a soft ribbon or stripe figure on quartersawn faces, and the texture is medium and even with a moderate natural luster.

Calophyllum is a wood of medium density, roughly 550–620 kg/m³ air-dry, with a Janka hardness of about 1,220 lbf — medium-hard, in the neighborhood of genuine mahogany and hard maple and well above temperate softwoods, though below dense tropicals like jatoba or ipe.

Durability is moderate. The heartwood is rated moderately durable, with fair resistance to decay and fungal attack but only limited resistance to termites and marine borers, so it is best kept out of prolonged ground contact unless treated. Interlocked grain can also make it somewhat slow to dry, with a tendency to warp if not stickered and dried carefully.

Calophyllum is a versatile general-purpose hardwood. Common uses include flooring, interior and exterior joinery, doors and window frames, staircases, furniture and cabinetry, and light-to-medium construction and framing.

It is also widely used for boat and ship building — planking, decking, and framing — as well as veneer, plywood, cabinet work, moulding, and turnery. Its warm color and gentle stripe figure make it a serviceable, lower-cost stand-in for mahogany in furniture and millwork.

Calophyllum generally works well with both hand and machine tools, with only a moderate blunting effect on cutters. The main caution is the interlocked grain: quartersawn and figured faces can tear out during planing and moulding, so sharp tooling and a reduced cutting angle help produce a clean surface. It nails, screws, and glues satisfactorily and takes stains and finishes well, sanding and polishing to a smooth, attractive surface.

Drying needs care — the wood dries fairly slowly and can warp or check if rushed, so slow, well-stickered kiln or air drying is advised. Once dry it is reasonably stable in service.

Cautions: Calophyllum dust can act as a respiratory and skin irritant for some workers, as with many tropical hardwoods, so use dust extraction and a mask. It is not known for severe or unusual toxicity. The species is not listed under CITES, so there are no permit requirements for trade.

Santa Maria / Calophyllum is a moderately available imported hardwood, offered as lumber, flooring stock, and veneer through specialty and tropical-hardwood suppliers rather than general lumberyards. It sits in the moderate price band for Latin American hardwoods — generally less expensive than genuine mahogany, which it is often used to substitute for, with premiums for wide, clear, quartersawn stock.

Calophyllum brasiliense is not listed under CITES and is not currently considered globally threatened, though like most neotropical timbers it is subject to habitat pressure from logging and land clearing in parts of its range. Responsibly sourced or FSC-certified material is preferable where available. Because several Calophyllum species (including Southeast Asian timbers sold as bintangor) share trade names, buyers wanting this specific species should ask for documentation.