SCIENTIFIC NAME
Caesalpina granadillo. Derivation: The genus name is in honor of Andrea Cesalpina (Caesalpini) (1519 to 1603), an Italian physician and botanist. The specific epithet is from the Spanish word grana indicating the ripening season for the fruit.

FAMILY
Fabaceae or Leguminosae, the legume family; (Caesalpiniaceae) the cassia group.

OTHER NAMES
coffeewood, brown ebony, ebano, granadillo, guayacan, Maracaibo ebony, partridge wood

DISTRIBUTION
Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil.

THE TREE
Mature trees are 50 to 75 feet in height. The trunks have unusually smooth bark and can grow to 36 inches in diameter and be free of branches for 35 feet. This tree grows best in dry areas. Occasionally spiny, the leaflets on the bipinnate leaves are always oblong to elliptic and small and numerous. The spiked flowers are yellow. The fruit pods are narrowly oblong, irregularly flattened and indehiscent.

THE TIMBER
The heartwood is coffee brown or dark red to chocolate brown or nearly black with fine parenchyma striping sharply demarcating the heartwood from the yellowish or pinkish-white sapwood. The luster is low to medium, and odor and taste are not distinct. The wood is exceedingly hard, heavy and strong with an average specific gravity of 0.95 (ovendry weight/green volume), equivalent to an air-dried weight of 78 pd. The texture is medium, and the grain is fairly straight to very irregular. The wood has exceptional strength properties.

SEASONING
To prevent fine checks, granadillo requires care when seasoning. Average reported shrinkage values (green to ovendry) are 5% radial and 8% tangential.

DURABILITY
The species is highly durable, which is beneficial when it is used for railway crossties, marine piling and in harbor works.

WORKABILITY
Granadillo is relatively difficult to work and has a tendency to chip out. A good smooth finish is achievable when using a lathe.

USES
The wood is used in its native location for general construction, marine piling, bridge construction, cross ties, fence posts, agricultural implements and vehicles. Exported timber has been used chiefly for umbrella handles.

SUPPLIES
Very little granadillo is exported from South America, therefore it is difficult to obtain. Occasionally, the large importers will receive a shipment. Primarily used for ornamental purposes, it is of limited commercial use which adds to its scarcity in the United States and Europe. When available, it is expensive but worth using by the hobbyist.

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