Akacio veneer is a little-known treasure from Central and South America. It has a lovely honey color, tan to brown lines, straight grain, and a medium texture. Against a fairly uniform background, this specie can produce a range of beautiful figures, including curly and fiddleback figures reminiscent of anegre or maple, and is an excellent, adaptable choice for a wide range of interior styles.
South America
Cerejiera is a South American wood particularly prized in crotch veneer—a figure that develops when two branches or trunks are knit together as they grow (sometimes called a plume or feather pattern). The pyramid-like pattern is lively, rich in contrast, and fascinating to behold. This rare veneer is sought after for high-end furniture and as a featured accent in architectural interiors
One of the hardest woods in the world, ipé is found throughout Central and South America, although most commercial wood comes from Brazil. White the tree itself is large, defect-free sections for veneer are relatively small. Extremely dark, the colors can vary from reddish-brown to green-black with subtle but distinctive stripes. Flat cut veneer produces the characteristic cathedral grain. Quartered, it can produce a plain or broken stripe figure.
This tropical evergreen grows to impressive heights in consistently cylindrical trunks, making it ideal for veneer production for architectural use. It has an intense, warm, reddish-brown color—much like cherry—with contrasting occasional gray-brown streaks. Jatoba has a medium texture, interlocked grain, and very desirable natural luster.
A relative newcomer to the US market, jequitiba has grown in popularity in the last decade as an alternative to mahogany for rich, traditional interiors. The reddish to purple-brown heartwood, sometimes with dark streaks, varies only subtly from its paler sapwood. It has a medium luster, fine grain, and soft, smooth texture. These large trees produce ample size leaves for large installations. Flat cut, it has a pleasing cathedral figure; quartered wood may be figured.
Lacewood is an uncommon veneer with a conspicuous flecking that resembles lace when quarter cut. Reddish brown with a silvery sheen, this striking veneer has a straight grain and small flake–the result of cutting through the medullary ray, which is especially pronounced in the species. Lacewood is always quarter cut and can be fumed to a rich chocolate brown.
Artists and designers alike appreciate the elegant lines of this lighter alternative to African mahogany. It’s lighter in color, firmer in texture, and straighter in grain than its African counterpart. Among the finest woods in the world, this is a versatile and adaptable choice for architectural interiors.
This is one of the world’s most loved and prized veneers. It ranges in color from lustrous chocolate-brown to purple-black with a cream colored sapwood—all very saturated with a vivid contrast. It has a lively variegated stripe and occasional bee’s wing figure and, when flat cut, produces a characteristic cathedral pattern. Increasingly used as a substitute for the extremely rare but prized Rio rosewood.
Named for a city in northern Brazil, sucupira is a South American hardwood with a character similar to rosewood or teak. It has a warm chocolate color with a fine yellow stripe, a lustrous finish, and a lively interlocking grain that is rarely figured. Flat cut veneer produces a beautiful cathedral pattern.
Teak is among the oldest commercial lumbers and remains a popular wood today, particularly in Asia, the US, and Scandinavia. It ranges in color from straw colored (which some consider the most desirable) to dark, dusty brown with fine, dark, contrasting stripes. Flat cut, the mineral streaks provide a contrasty grain structure in the cathedral pattern, much like American walnut. Pure golden teak without mineral streaking is available, but rare. Reconstituted teak is a manmade product that provides the beauty of teak with outstanding consistency in color and grain from sheet to sheet. Also available in recon.
Tineo is prized for its unique and interesting colors—the typically pinkish-brown veneer is marked with bold, exotic streaks of purple, dark green, blue, and/or black. Found primarily in South America, this wood is sometimes called Indian Apple. The veneer is straight grained with a fine to medium texture, and a lovely natural luster.
Ziricote is a captivating choice—sometimes referred to as the abstract art of veneer. Designers seek it out for its unrepeatable grain patterns—spider webbing, marbling, cloudbursts, hill and valley patterns, and more. The reddish-brown heartwood is nicely contrasted by creamy sapwood. Quarter cut veneer may produce ray flakes similar to hard maple. Some designers incorporate the pale sapwood into furniture or interior designs for aesthetic effect, or to cut down on waste.