Purpleheart

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Purpleheart

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae
Tribe:	Detarieae
Genus:	Peltogyne Vogel

Species

See text

For other meanings see Purple Heart (disambiguation)

Purpleheart (Peltogyne) is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to tropical regions of Central and South America, where they occur in tropical rainforest.

They are medium-sized to large trees growing to 30-50 m tall, with trunk diameters of up to 1.5 m. The leaves are alternate, divided into a symmetrical pair of large leaflets 5-10 cm long and 2-4 cm broad. The flowers are small, with five white petals, produced in panicles. The fruit is a pod containing a single seed.

[edit] Wood

A board laminated with Purpleheart (the darkest of the three), as well as the salmon colored Lyptus and the lighter hardrock(eastern) maple (sugar maple).

The trees are prized for their beautiful heartwood which, when cut, quickly turns from a dark brown to a rich purple color. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light darkens the wood to a brown color with a slight hue of the original purple. This effect can be minimized with a finish containing a UV inhibitor. The dry wood is very hard and dense with a specific gravity of 0.86 (54 lb/ft^3 or 860 kg/m^3). It works easily, and is prized for fine inlay work, woodturning, cabinetry, and furniture. The dust can cause nausea. The wood is also known as amaranth and violet wood. Unfortunately, overharvesting has caused several species to become endangered in areas where they were once abundant.