OREGON FOREST
:..'-s
LABORATORY
RY
INFORMATION LEAFLET
FOREIGN WOODS
Forest Products Laboratory,. Forest Service
U. S. Department of Agriculture
1953
on
QUARUBA, YEMERI
Vochysia spp.
Family:
Vochysiaceae
By
JEANNETTE M. KRYN, Forest Products Technologist
Division of Silviculture' Relations
Distribution and Habitat
The genus Vochysia includes about 90 species of trees and shrubs, most of
Two
Soúth America, especially in the Guianas and Brazil.
which occur
hondurensis
V.
and
Central American species, V. guatemalensis Donn. Smith
The woods of
Sprague, are separated botanically by very slight differences.
confused
often
and
Vochysia are known by many common names and are similar to
The tree may be
with those of the closely related genus Qualea (22, 27),2
locally rather common in the rain forests, near the coasts or streams (11,
in
121 22, 30).
`Maintained at Madison, Wis,, in cooperation with the University of
Wisconsin.
2
-Underlined numbers in parentheses refer to the list of numbered references
at the end of the article.
Rept. No. R1946
-1-
Agriculture- Madison
Other Common Names
Quaruba wood is also known by the following names (11, 18, 19, 24, 30, 34):
Gwanna -kwarie (Surinam)
Kwarie (Surinam)
Quaruba branca (Surinam)
Quaruba vermelha (Surinam)
Wanekwalie (Surinam)
Cadre gris (French Guiana)
Grignon fou (French Guiana)
Grignon gris (French Guiana)
Eta -balli (British Guiana)
Iteballi (British Guiana)
Palo bayo (Honduras, Nicaragua,
Costa Rica)
San Juan (Honduras, Nicaragua,
Costa Rica)
Sanpedrano (Honduras, Nicaragua,
Costa Rica)
Emeri (British Honduras)
Emery (British Honduras)
Red yemeri (British Honduras)
White yemeri (British Honduras)
White mahogany (British Honduras)
Caizeta (Brazil)
Cedro -rana (Brazil)
Coariuba (Brazil)
Quaruba (Brazil)
Vinheiro do matto (Brazil)
Corpo (Mexico)
Corpus (Mexico)
Puanchap (Mexico)
Chancho colorado (Costa Rica)
Magnolia (Costa Rica)
Mayo (Costa Rica)
Palo de chancho (Costa Rica)
Barba chele (Nicaragua)
Maori (Panama)
Yemeri macho (Panama)
The Tree
The trees vary in size from small to very large,
Heights of 90 to 130 feet
and diameters of 2 to 3 feet are frequently attained, but trees with a
maximum height of 190 feet and a diameter of 6 or more feet have been reported.
Clear bole lengths of 50 to 70 feet may occur.
The bark is smooth and grayish. The tree is conspicuous during the blossoming
season because of its masses of bright yellow flowers (11, 14, 18, 22).
The Wood
Color
The heartwood varies from a uniform dull pink to pinkish brown. It is
distinct but not always sharply demarcated from the whitish, gray, or buff
sapwood,
Vertical, traumatic gum ducts, usually filled with orange -brown
gum, may be present,
They are sometimes large enough to be considered a
defect in the lumber (2, 11, 14, 22, 29).
Luster
A medium to high luster may be present (11, 22,
Rapt. No. R1946
-
-2-
).
..
..
,:1.r,..77
7
xrS: :ZAíOP,Y
Grain, Texture, Figure
Quaruba is typically straight grained, but interlocked grain, producing a
stripe figure when quartersawn, is also found. The texture is described as
coarse to medium and rather "fibrous," comparable with Spanish cedar (Cedrela)
(2, 11, 14, 22).
Odor and Taste
Odor and taste are absent,
Weight
The woods are of variable density from medium to rather low, with an
average specific gravity of 0,37 (0.29-0.45) based on weight when oven-dry
and volume when green, aM a weight per cubic foot of 67 pounds when green
and 28 to 32 pounds when air -dry (2, 11).
Mechanical Properties
The average strength values of Vochysia species in the green condition are
equal to or greater than those
many woods with similar relatively low
density (11). Table 1 shows strength values for quaruba (Vochysia spp.) and
yellow -poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) in both green and air -dryconditions.
of
Seasoning and Shrinkage
Both Vochysia guianensis and V. hondurensis have been rated moderately
For kiln-drying, schedule 1 of the Forest Products
difficult to air
33).
Research Laboratory (England) has been recommended (4). The U. S. Forest
Products Laboratory schedule that appears to be the most applicable for 4/4
stock is T4 -D2 (32), As an effective general procedure for minimizing warping, a sticker spacing of not over 18 inches, with all stickers in vertical
alinement, and weighting down of the top of the pile has been used, Shrinkage data for Vochysia and a comparable North American hardwood, yellow -poplar
(Liriodendron tulipifera), are given in table 2. Unpainted weathered wood
is reported to show only a moderate amount of surface roughness and slight
surface checking (33).
Resistance to Decay and Marine Borers
In British Honduras two classes of Vochysia timbers are recognized: White
yemeri, which is low in resistance to decay; and red yemeri, which is
moderately resistant.
In decay- resistance tests, the heartwood of Vochysia
uianensis was very resistant to a representative white rot fungus
(Poly Eruss versicolor), although somewhat variable, and moderately
resistant to a fungus (Poria monticola) representing the brown rot
group, Other species tested were susceptible to attack by the
Rept, No. R1946
..3-
dry -wood termite of the West Indies and to marine -borer attack in Hawaiian
waters. Both heartwood and sapwood can be treated with preservatives with
little difficulty (11, 33).°
Working Characteristics
The wood is readily worked, but it has been reported that it dulls tools (2,
11).
Results of tests at the U, S. Forest Products Laboratory on the machining properties of Vochysia hondurensis have been interpreted in the Yale
report (11) as follows! Planing, turning, and boring, poor; sanding, fair;
shaping and mortising, good. Quaruba takes glue and nails well, stains
readily, and shows fair steam -bending qualities (2, 33).
Uses
Quaruba is used locally for dug -out canoes, carpentry, exterior siding, and
to a limited extent in interior construction,
It promises to be a suitable general -utility wood for the manufacture of boxes
and crates, inexpensive furniture, articles requiring a painted finish, and
plywood (2, 11, 30), It seemed to be one of the three best native woods for
railway crossties in tests conducted in British Honduras (10).
Availability
Small quantities of Vochysia have been exported from British Honduras to the
United States to be made into veneers (30).
Structure
The pores are large, readily visible without magnification, mostly solitary,
and rather uniformly distributed. Parenchyma is abundant, surrounding the
pores and forming narrow, winglike extensions that occasionally join to make
concentric bands.
.
Gum ducts are of irregular occurrence and are sometimes large,
frequently filled with orange -brown gum (13, 14, 21, 29).
Rept. No. R1946
-4-
They are
References
1,
Anonymous
1935.
The Properties of Yemeni (Vochysia hondurensis Sprague) from
British Honduras,
Dept, Sci, Indus. Research (London), Proj. 22; Inv. 20, 12 pp.
1943,
Foreign Timbers 2, Notes on Freijo (Cordia goeldian:a) and
Quaruba (Vochysia spp.) ,
British Forest Products Research Laboratory Leaflet No. 29.
Princes Risborough, Aylesbury, Bucks, England.
1945.
A Handbook of Empire Timbers. Revised edition, with appendixes
A -C (Kiln schedules, etc.)
British Forest Products Research Laboratory, Dept. Sci.
Indus. Research (London). 142 pp,
1952.
Kiln- drying Schedules.
British Forest Products Research Laboratory Leaflet No, 42
Princes Risborough, Aylesbury, Bucks, England.
(revised).
2,
3.
4,
5.
Chenery, E, M.
1946. Aluminium in Trees.
Empire Forestry Rev. (London), Vol, 25, No, 2, PR0 255 -256.
(Reviewed in Trop, Woods No, 92, p. 65, New Haven, Conn,
6.
Davis, E. M.
1949. Exploratory Tests on Machining and Related Properties of
Fifteen Tropical American Hardwoods,
U, S. Forest Products Laboratory Rept, No, R1744, 5 pp.
7.
Ducke, A.
1943. The Most Important Woods of the Amazon Valley.
Trop. Woods No, 74, p. 5, New Haven, Conn.
8.
Edmondson, Charles Howard
1949. Reaction of Woods from South American and Caribbean Areas to
Marine Borers in Hawaiian Waters.
Caribbean Forester, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 37 -40.
9.
Fanshawe, D. B.
1945. Forest Products of British Guiana, Part I.
Forestry Bull. No 1 (n,s, ), 74 pp., Georgetown.
10,
Francis, G. W. E.
Native Woods Used for Railway Cross -ties in British Honduras
1926.
Trop. Woods No. 7, pp, 30 -32, New Haven, Conn.
Rept. No, R1946
-5-
11,
Hess, Robert W,, Wangaard, Fred. F., and Dickinson, Fred, E,
Properties and Uses of Tropical Woods, II.
1950.
Trop. Woods No, 97, pp. 116-121, New Haven, Conn.
12.
Howard, A. L.
1945, A Manual of the Timbers of the World.
MacMillan & Co., Ltd,, London,
Pp, 504, 649.
13,
Kribs, David A,
1928.. The Persaud Collection of British Guiana Woods,
Trop, Woods No. 13, pp, 44-45,
New Haven, Conn.
14.
Lamb, A, F. A.
1946, Notes on Forty -two Secondary Hardwood Timbers of British
Honduras,
British Honduras Forestry Dept. Bull, No. 1, pp. 111 -114,
Belize.
15.
Lamb, George N.
1952. Quaruba (Vochysia -- 2 spp.).
Wood and Wood Products, Vol. 57, No, 12, p, 16.
16,
Markwardt, L, J. and Wilson, T, R, C,
1935.
Strength and Related Properties of Woods Grown in the
United States,
U. S. Dept. Agri, Tech. Bull, 479, 99 PP.
17.
Mennega, Alberta M, W.
1948.- Suriname Timbers I.
Natuurwetenschappelijke Studiekring voor Suriname en
Curacao (Utrecht) No, 3, 59 pp., 8 plates.
(Reviewed in Trop, Woods No, 94, p. 56, New Haven, Conn.)
18.
Marker,
A., Barbour, W. R., Soholten,J, A., and Dayton, W. A.
The.Forests of Costa Rica. Pp. 60 -61.
U, S, Forest Service,
Washington,
1943.
19,
Pfeiffer, J, Ph,
1926, De houtsoorten van Suriname,
Vol. I, pp, 342-350,
Amsterdam,
20.
Record, S. J.
Pits with Cribriform Membranes.
1925,
Trop. Woods No, 2, pp. 10-12,
New Haven, Conn.
21.
Occurrence of Intercellular Canals in Dicotyledonous Woods.
Trop, Woods No. 4, p,'20, New Haven, Conn,
1925.
22,
-
1943.
and Hess, R. W.
Timbers of the New World,
Pp. 552 -553,
Yale Univ, Press, New Haven, Conn.
Rept, No. R1946
-6-
23.
Retord, S, J. and Melt, C. D.
1924,
Timbers of Tropical America.
Pp, 366 -368,
Yale Univ. Press, New Haven
..
Conn.
_
..
24.
Schmidt, E,
1951. Überseehttiizer, No, 5, Quaruba (Voehysia spp.),
pp. 1 -5. Bundesanstalt flic Forst - und Holzwirtschaft,
Reinbek, Fritz Haller Verlag, Berlin.
25.
Shank, Paul
1948. Notes on a Timber Survey in Eastern Nicaragua,
Trop. Woods No. 93, p. 52, New Haven, Conn.
26.
Stafleu, Frans Antonio
1948. A Monograph of the Vochysiaceae I, Salvertia and Vochysia.
Rec. Tray. Bot. Merland 41, pp. 398-540, map.
27.
Standley, Paul C.
1934. Additions to the Trees of Honduras.
Trop, Woods No. 37, p. 38, New Haven, Conn.
28,
1937.
29,
1936.
30.
1949.
Flora of Costa Rica,
Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago)
Vol. 18, pt, 2, p,`592.
and Record, S. J.
The Forests and Flora of British. Honduras.
Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago)
Vol. 12, p. 210.
Bot. Series,
Bot. Series,
and Steyermark, J. A,
Flora of Guatemala.
F ieldianas Botany (Chicago),
Vol, 24, pt, 6, pp, 2 -5.
31.
Stevenson, Duncan and Neil,S,
1925. Some Secondary Timbers of British Honduras,
Trop. Woods No. 4, pp. 15 -16, New Haven, Conn.
32.
Torgeson, 0. W.
1951. Schedules for the Kiln Drying of Wood.
U. S, Forest Products Laboratory Rapt. No.D1791, 9 pp.
33.
U angaard, F. F., and Muschler, A. F.
Properties and Uses of Tropical Woods, III,
1952.
Trop. Woods No, 98 pp, 181 -186, New Haven, Conn,
34.
Woods, R. P.
1949.
Timbers of South America. Pp. 47, 59.
Timber Development Association Ltd., 75 Cannon St.,
London, E.74
Rept, No. R1946
7-
Table 1, --Mechanical properties of suaruba and a comparable North American
hardwood, yellow -poplar1
Species-
s
Property
s
:Yellow -poplar
Quaruba
(Vochysia :(Liriodendron
guianensis s tulipifera)
and V.
:
:hondurensis):
s
s
:
:
Moisture content
Green
.............
Air-drys
...
........
s.
percent:
percent:
-
.
... ..
Specific gravity
Based on volume when green and weight when oven -dry.:
Based on volume and weight when oven -dry
..:
191,9
12.5
s
s
83
12
:
Static bending
Fiber stress at proportional limit
Green
Air-dry
Modulus of rupture
Green
..,.
Work to proportional limit
s
3,400
6,200
6,000
10,100
6,120
9,090
:
1,220
1,390
:
:
per cu. 3n.s
per cu, in.:
Compression parallel to grain
Fiber stress at proportional limit
Green
Air-dry'
Maximum crushing strength
Green
......... ..
Air -dry3
Modulus of elasticity
Green.. .0.. .............0 .....4.0....1,000
Air-dry/
1,00
a
0.75
1.53
s
s
0,55
1.39
:
:
per cu, in.:
per cu, in.:
1,220
1,580
:
:
Green
in, -lb,
Air -dry3............. ......... in.-lb.
Work to maximum load
Green
in. -lb.
Air
in. -lb.
Rept. No
3,970
6,130
s
1,000 p.s,i.:
1,000 p,s.i.:
Air-dry
-
:
s
p,s,i.s
p.s.i,:
Modulus of elasticity
Green
Air -dry'
Air -dry3
0.40
0.45
s
:.
p,s,i.:
..p.s.i.:
Air-dry ,
Hardness4.
Green - end
Green - side
0.37
0.42
5.2
6.1
6
s
7.5
8.8
s
:
s
p.s,i,:
p.s.i.:
2,080
4,700
s
2,070
3,730
s
s
p.s,i.:
p.s,i.:
s
2,760
5,840
s
t
2,660
5,540
s
p,s,i.:
p.s,i.:
1,490
:
1,550
:
lb.:
lb.:
lb.:
lb.:
670
610
*630
1,560
1,980
/
end
- side
R1946
*530
:
480
440
670
:
540
a
s
(Sheet 1 of 2)
Table 1. -- Mechanical properties of quaruba and a comparable North American
hardwood, yellow -poplar
(continued)
Species2
Property
t
:Yellow-poplar
Quaruba
(Vochysia :(Liriodendron
tulipifera)
:
guianensis
and V.
:hondureñsis):
:
s
Compression perpendicular to grain
Stress at proportional limit
Green
Air -dry,
Tension perpendicular to grain
Green
Air
s
t
.
;
s
t
psi+=
400
:
p.s.i.:
530
:
p.s.i.;
p.s.i.s
430
*350
300
560
510
540
:
s
s
Shear
Green
Air
Cleavage
Green
Air -dry3
Toughness5
s
p.s.i.:
p.s.i.:
740
:
790
980
:
1,190
:
,
lb. per in, of width:
lb. per in. of width:
in,-1b, per specimen:
210
s
240
*190
s
320
96.9
s
135.0
1This table shows results of tests oh quaruba made by the Yale School of
Forestry in cooperation with the Office of Naval Research and the Bureau
of Ships, U. S. Navy Department. Average strength values for all the logs
tested are presented (23). The values given for yellow -poplar are the most
recent revised data forthat species as tested by the U. S. Forest Products
Laboratory.
-Source and number of logs: Quaruba -- Brazil, 1 log; Surinam, 1 log)
Nicaragua, 3 logs. Yellow -poplar -- United States, 19 logs.
-Air-dry values adjusted to 12 percent moisture content except where designated
( *),
in which case the actual moisture content at time of testing (see
Moisture Content (12.5) in table) applies.
load in pounds required to embed a 0.444 -inch steel ball to half its
diameter.
-`'The
-Toughness values are the average of tests of green and air -dry specimens 5/8
by 5/8 by 10 inches loaded on the tangential face over an 8 -inch span.
(Concluded)
Rept, No, R1946
(Sheet 2 of 2)
Table
--Shrinkage values for quaruba and a comparable North American
hardwood, yellow -poplar
--
Shrinkage2
s
Species and source
s
Radial
:
s
Tangential
s
Percent
s
:
Longitudinal
:
Percent
s
s
s
Volumetric
.
$
s.
Quaruba
llognsis)
i
(Vo Brazil
r
(1 log)
Surinam (1 log)
Average (2 logs).
(Vochysia hondurerisis)
Nicaragua
3
Percent
:
s
s
s
:
t
s
s
:
4.4
:
5,3
,
48
2.0
:
Yellow- poplar
(Liriodendron tulipifera)
United States (19 logs).. .....
$
s
:
s
s
_
8.4
8,1
8.2
4.2
s
:
s
s
8.0
s
.02
.07
s
:
:
:
!
:
t
!
s
.
t
:
7,6
14.4
16p5.
15r4
:
.17-
s
s
Percent
:
0.12
s
.
s
,
s
:
.......s
loge
s
9.8
I
s.........:
12.4
s
-This table shows results of tests on quaruba made by the Yale School
of Forestry in cooperation with the Office of Naval Research and the
Bureau of Ships, U. S, Navy Department (11, 22), The values given
for yellow -poplar are the most recent revised data for that species
as tested by the U. S. Forest Products Laboratory,
-
-Shrinkage values represent shrinkage from the green to the oven -dry
condition expressed as a percentage of the green dimension.
Rept
No,
R1946