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Brazilian Cherry

The Brazilian Cherry, also known as Jatoba is a huge canopy tree.  The top of this tree can sprawl to a beautiful width and provide a striking crown. Known for its hardness, the Brazilian Cherry can be challenging to mill, nail and cut.  If you are looking for rich, warm red hues, the Brazilian Cherry is for you.  The Brazilian is favoured for the exotic look given by the flat grain pattern.  The interlocking grain pattern, gives it a very smooth and uniform look, with the accents of golden and darker brown streaks, adding to its exotic nature.
Botanical Name: Hymenaea courbaril

Nicknames: The Jatoba Wood, Pitanga, Surinam Cherry, Cayenne Cherry (Eugenia uniflora), Red Locus, and Paper Birch (betula papyrifera) and is called Guapinol in Brazil.

Growth
The beautiful Brazilian Cherry is grown almost exclusively in the Caribbean, Central and South America and Brazil.  The tree grows to an average height of about 25 feet.
 
Colour
Reddish brown in colour, over time, the color of Brazilian cherry floors will change, becoming the deep, luxurious cherry color for which they are named.
 
Grain
Brazilian Cherry has an interlocking grain and some golden and darker brown streaks, which give it an exotic appearance.
Stability
The Brazilian Cherry has excellent stability and once dried warps or moves very little. For moisture durability, the brazilian cherry floors get an average score of 8.5, about 1% more stable than the Red Oak hardwood.
 
Hardness   
The Brazilian Cherry hardwood is one of the hardest species available.  On the Janka hardness test, Brazilian scores 2350 points, which is 119% harder than the popular Red Oak hardwood. For comparison, the Douglas Fir measures 660 lbf, The White Oak 1360 lbf, and the Brazilian Walnut about 3800 lbf.
 

Fun Facts
  • Sometimes referred to as the South American Cherry
  • It is not a cherry tree and is in no way, botanically related to the Black Cherry tree which is a very common American hardwood
  • Produces an orange, sticky gum which converts to Amber through a chemical process which requires millions of years
  • This amber has provided scientists with many clues about prehistoric life on earth
  • Jatoba is also knowns as the South American Locust or "stinking toe" because of the smell of its seed pods


Brazillian Cherry Diamond Standard Ratings

Janka 2350 Select & Better Low Sheen Harvested
from Central and
South America

 


Wide Content: 

Your colour options for the Brazilian Cherry, all in an illustrious crimson tinge are:


For more on colour, browse through our colour collections in step 1.