carreto

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CARRETO

Aspidosperma spp.
Aspidosperma spp. of the family Apocynaceae. Carreto is one set of Aspidosperma species and another wood, peroba rosa, is another set of Aspidosperma species. Because they are similar in color and face grain appearance, they cannot always be distinguished by the face grain, but they can always be distinguished by the end grain, as seen directly below. The two sets of species are:

carreto	peroba rosa
Aspidosperma curranii	Aspidosperma album
Aspidosperma desmanthum	Aspidosperma centrale
Aspidosperma dugandii	Aspidosperma peroba
Aspidosperma elliptica	Aspidosperma polyneuron
Aspidosperma macrocarpon	Aspidosperma populifolium
Aspidosperma polyneuron	Aspidosperma pyricollum
Aspidosperma rusby	Aspidosperma pyrifolium
	Aspidosperma tomentosum
NOTE: this separation based on end grain characteristics of the two groups listed is suspect and under review

I note that the species Aspidosperma polyneuron uses both names. There are a few other species, from other genera, that also have carreto as all or part of one or more of their common names

Typical end grain patterns for the two groups
the top two are each.25" square and the bottom two are each .04" square

my samples:
NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K)
colors will vary under other lighting conditions

both sides of a quartersawn sample plank of carreto / Aspidosperma dugandii --- NOTE: The apparent difference in color between the sides is not present in the wood; both sides look exactly like the second pic in color.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a flat cut sample plank of carreto / Aspidosperma dugandii --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The bright red areas on the right-hand side of the unlabeled side of the plank are even more bright in reality than they are in this pic.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

sample plank and end grain of carreto / Aspidosperma spp. This was sold to me as peroba rosa / Aspidosperma spp. BUT ... this is one of those ones that got confused. The end grain clearly shows that it is carreto / Aspidosperma spp. (see notes at the top of the page)

end grain and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of carreto / Aspidosperma spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was contributed to the site by Mike Johnson. Thanks Mike. These were identified to Mike as, and he presented them to me as, peroba rosa. As is explained at the top of the page, these two woods are sometimes confused but the end grain makes it clear which is which.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of carreto / Aspidosperma spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. NOTE: the vendor of this sample has this as peroba rosa / Aspidosperma polyneuron but based on both my own samples of both and the detailed end grain pics of Aspidosperma polyneuron on the NCSU reference site, it is clear that this is NOT Aspidosperma polyneuron, nor is it peroba rosa. It is carreto and I cannot tell which particular Aspidosperma species it is.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

web pics:

the buyer of this plank told me that it is a beautiful orange, slightly darker than in this picture.

turning blocks

turning stick

scales

pen blanks that have been oiled and waxed