SCIENTIFIC NAME
Brosimum rubescens. Derivation: The genus name is Greek for edible fruit. The specific epithet is Latin for light red, referring to the color of the wood. A synonym is B. paraense.

FAMILY
Moraceae, the mulberry family.

OTHER NAMES
Bloodwood, Brazil redwood, cardinalwood, muirapiranga, pau rainha, palo de sangre, satine urbane.

DISTRIBUTION
French Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Panama and Venezuela

THE TREE
Satine is a rather tall tree growing in the upland rain forest, most frequently on sandy soils. It grows to a height of 120 feet or more with a trunk diameter in the range of 30 to 40 inches. The straight, cylindrical boles are mostly clear for 75 feet or more. They are without buttresses, and the smooth bark exudes a white latex. The leaves are elliptic in shape with a broad base. The fruit is similar in appearance to a fig but has a single large seed.

THE TIMBER
The color of satine heartwood is various shades of rich, lustrous red and yellow overlaid with a golden sheen. The wide sapwood is yellowish-white and sharply demarcated from the heartwood. Average specific gravity ranges from 0.71 to 0.82 (ovendry weight/green
volume), equivalent to an air-dried weight of 56 to 66 pef. The sapwood is lighter and variable in weight. The texture is rather fine to coarse, and the grain is straight to variable. The luster is high and golden. The wood is odorless and tasteless.

SEASONING
Satine lumber air dries rapidly and easily with little or no degrade. Material containing tension wood, however, will be prone to warp. Average reported shrinkage values (green to ovendry) are 4% radial and 6% tangential.

DURABILITY
The heartwood is very resistant to decay and insects, while the sapwood is readily attacked.

WORKABILITY
Although hard, the wood is not difficult to work, glues well and takes a high natural polish. It finishes very smoothly.

USES
Satine is used for veneer, furniture, marquetry inlays, turnery, cabinetry, bows and fishing rods. The heartwood has very limited commercial use due to the small size of this portion of the tree. The logs obtainable rarely exceed 8 inches in diameter. The much wider sapwood finds expanded uses but does not have the beautiful and variegated color of the heartwood.

SUPPLIES
Satine is scarce and only found occasionally on a commercial basis in the United States from the most important lumber importers. For this reason, its cost is regarded as high. The best grades come from French Guiana, and the wood from Brazil and Peru usually has inferior color characteristics.

Information from A Guide to Useful Woods of the World, Second Edition, James H. Flynn, Jr. and Charles D. Holder, Editors.
Forest Products Society, Madison, Wisconsin, 2001.

Photographs from MDArtworks