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Calophyllum brasiliense
Santa Maria
A richly colored hardwood valued not only for furniture and boatbuilding, but as a source of compounds studied for HIV/AIDS and cancer treatment.
View Selected InventoryAbout Santa Maria
Santa Maria is a tall, glossy tree — reaching 30 to 40 m, with trunks often a meter across at breast height — valued for its rich coloration and beautiful grain as much as its practicality. Sapwood runs a pinkish-white, blending into heartwood with soft veining along the tangential surface, in a medium, non-lustrous texture with little distinctive scent or taste. It's a medium-weight wood, moderately difficult to saw but easy to work with standard tools and machines; planing can roughen the surface somewhat due to its prominent interlocked grain, though it finishes and polishes well once a sealer's been applied — pre-drilling is recommended before nailing or screwing. Beyond timber, this species carries a remarkable secondary value: it naturally biosynthesizes compounds under active pharmacological study, including calanolides investigated for HIV/AIDS treatment and mammea-type coumarins studied for anti-protozoal and anti-tumor properties — making Santa Maria as valuable to medicine as it is to woodworking.
At a glance
- Brazil Beauty-Leaf
- Leche Maru00eda
- Baru00ed
- Palo Maru00eda
At a glance
- Origin
- Northeast/North/South/Central-West/Southeast Brazil, Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Central/Gulf/Southeast/Southwest Mexico, Nicaragua,
- Category
- Indoor Furniture · Flooring
- Best for
- Carpentry, furniture, flooring, prefabricated flooring, window and door frame laminates
- Working properties
- Moderately difficult to saw, but easy to work using standard tools and machines. Planing may roughen the surface due to prominent interlocked grain. Good finishing and polishing qualities with a prior sealer application; pre-drilling required before nailing and screwing.
Spec sheet
Physical-mechanical properties
Physical-mechanical values for Santa Maria from the approved Final Content document.
Density
520 kg/mu00b3
MOE Flex u2014 Elastic Modulus
110160 kg/cmu00b2
RLE Flex u2014 Elastic Resistance Limit
350 kg/cmu00b2
RR Flex u2014 Rupture Resistance
799 kg/cmu00b2
PMOE Com for u2014 Elastic Modulus, Compression Parallel
99230 kg/cmu00b2
PRLE Com for u2014 Elastic Resistance Limit, Compression Parallel
200 kg/cmu00b2
RR Com for u2014 Rupture Resistance
328 kg/cmu00b2
RLE Com for u2014 Elastic Resistance Limit, Perpendicular Compression
328 kg/cmu00b2
RR Shear for u2014 Rupture Resistance, Parallel Shear
328 kg/cmu00b2
JK Lateral u2014 Lateral Face Hardness
329 kg
JK Lateral u2014 Transverse Face Hardness
425 kg
Where it's used
Built for the demanding jobs
01 — Furniture
Indoor & outdoor furniture
02 — Flooring
Premium hardwood flooring
03 — Musical Instruments
Tonewood & musical instruments
04 — Marine
Marine decking & boat building
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