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CUMARU

Dipteryx odorata

Dipteryx odorata (syn. Coumarouna odorata) of the family Fabaceae (syn. Leguminosae) the legume, pea, or bean family. May also include Dipterix micrantha.

Also, there is another species, Dipteryx micrantha, that is more commonly called shihuahuaco and probably SHOULD be distinguished from cumaru, but so many dealers blend the two, and list Dipteryx odorata as shihuahuaco, that it is just not realistic to seperate it out, so it's here too.

SO ... while I say at the top of this page that cumaru is Dipteryx odorata, it is possible (but less likely) that if you buy "cumaru", you will get Dipteryx micrantha instead of Dipteryx odorata, but true shihuahuaco (Dipteryx micrantha) seems to be a pretty obscure wood, at least in the USA --- it is generally found in Peru where it is used for flooring, outdoor carpentry and other places where its hardness and durability are useful.

Cumaru is a large South American rainforest tree that produces a very grainy but dense and heavy wood; it is sometimes sold as "Brazilian chestnut". The tree produces a berry called the tonka berry and the wood is also sold under the common name tonka, among many others. Lumber color tends to run a wide range over red/brown. The wood is oily and can be hard to glue. Interlocked grain can make for tearout when planing with dull knives.

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 sample plank of cumaru / Dipteryx odorata --- HUGE enlargements are present.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of cumaru / Dipteryx odorata --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of cumaru / Dipteryx odorata --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Although the vendor of this sample has it as Dipteryx spp. based on both (1) the scarcity of Dipteryx micrantha and (2) the different end grain characteristics of Dipteryx micrantha (see the sample far down below), I concluded that this is in fact Dipteryx odorata.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of cumaru / Dipteryx odorata --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was contributed to the site by John Nicholas who was looking for identification confirmation.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of cumaru / Dipteryx odorata --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was contributed to the site by John Nicholas who was looking for identification confirmation.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


plank and end grain


end grain closeup of the piece directly above, although I see I got it upside down


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


flooring sample and end grain, listed as cumaru --- actually, this was listed as "Brazilian teak" which is just a made-up marketing name used by flooring companies, and has nothing to do with the wood and is not used outside of flooring companies, but the alternate name cumaru was also given. When I took this out of the box, I thought it was ipe, and I still point out that even down to the details in the end grain closeup it looks very much like ipe but I do believe it is probably cumaru.

A NOTE ABOUT COLOR --- I don't know whether this piece has turned more red during the 8 or so years it's been sitting in my sample boxes or if I just did a bad job originally of correcting the color of the pics, BUT ... when I did the end grain update below I noticed that this piece is noticibly more red than is shown here and the color in the end grain update is accurate.


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above


plank and end grain


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above


plank and end grain


plank and closeup. Actual color is not as red as shown. See the pics directly below of a smaller plank cut from this one. Those pics have accurate color.


plank and end grain --- this was cut from the larger plank directly above


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above


plank and closeup


plank and end grain


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above


plank --- grain shows better in the enlargements; color is quite accurate. Just for grins, I've also posted the vendor's pic of the same plank as it appeared on eBay. This is an HONEST vendor, by the way, just one who cannot afford the time to do color correction on all of the hundreds of pics he has posted at any one time.


both sides of a small piece --- the first pic is a freshly sanded side and the next pic is of a side showing a slight age patina


end grain, end grain closeup, and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above


a cumaru HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of a piece that I found in my sample box that doesn't seem to have a pic already on this page

THIS IS NOT CUMARU

both sides of a sample plank of Peruvian shihuahuaco / Dipteryx micrantha --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. THIS IS NOT CUMARU but it is a fairly close relative so I've put it on this page rather than leave it off of the site. See the name discussion at the top of this page.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank LISTED AS, BUT NOT Peruvian shihuahuaco / Dipteryx micrantha --- HUGE enlargements are present. This was sold to me as Peruvian shihuahuaco / Dipteryx micrantha but the end grain says that it is not that species but rather cumaru / Dipteryx odorata. The sample directly ABOVE this one is true Dipteryx micrantha (confirmed by NCSU's reference site) and you can see that the end grain of this piece does not match that one at all.


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


A flooring sample with a thin layer of cumaru on plywood (so no end grain shots). It was labeled "Southern chestnut" and since I can't find that common name in any reputable source so I assume it is a flooring industry made up name. It is typical of the flooring industry to just make up names for woods. I'm not even 100% sure this is cumaru but the face grain looks like it and what little there is to be seen in the end grain supports that.

web pics:

plank with wet and dry sections


end grain closeups of pieces listed as shihuahuaco / Dipteryx odorata


flat cut planks that have been moistened for the pics


planks


planks listed as shihuahuaco / Dipteryx odorata


planks listed as shihuahuaco


flat cut and quartersawn planks listed as shihuahuaco / Dipteryn odorata


plank listed as cumaru / Dipterix micrantha


plank listed as cumaru / Brasilian chestnut


scales listed as Brazilian chestnut


planks sold as tonka; I'm confident that the purple color in the last pic is incorrect


planks with a color that I am confident is just silly


plank listed as "camara" which is a name I can't find anywhere, but "camare" IS an alternate name for cumaru, so I'm guessing cumaru is probably what this wood is


flooring sold as cumaru


flooring sold as shihuahuaco / Dipteryx odorata


flooring listed as shihuahuaco


all-around tongue-and-grooved cumaru flooring plank


veneer