Cherry heartwood offers a beautiful, light reddish-brown color that darkens with age and exposure to sunlight. Some heartwoods take on reddish tones similar to Mahogany and deepen over time to a dark reddish-brown with golden overtones. The sapwood can be very light, ranging in shades from white to pale yellow. The straight, tight, satiny grain of Cherry can be marred by flecks or small gum pockets.
Formal Name: Prunus Serotina
Other Names:
Yellow Birch, Sweet Birch
Cypress sapwood varies in color from degrees of pale yellow to light brown, gradually darkening into the heartwood, which can range from reddish brown to nearly black. Heartwood from trees in southern swamplands is darker in color than cypress grown further north in drier climates. The wood is coarse with a straight grain and a naturally oily or greasy feel. The oils in the heartwood, called cypressene, make it one of the most durable woods, with strong resistance to decay when exposed to moisture.
Formal Name: Taxodium distichium
Other Names:
Cypress is found throughout North and Central America, including Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala in wet, swampy areas. In the U.S. it grows along the East Coast from New Jersey south to Florida and throughout the mid-south in areas such as Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
The creamy white sapwood of the Hard Maple is often tinged with pink or pale reddish-brown tones. The heartwood is more red in color, varying from light to dark reddish-brown. The growth rings produce a very fine brown line throughout the wood. The grain of Hard Maple is tight with a fine texture, and usually straight, although several variations of curly or burled grain, which are most desirable, can be found in some Hard Maples. The burled wood resembles small circular or elliptical figures, that also are called birds-eye, and when more irregular in nature are called fiddleback.
Formal Name: Acer Saccharum
Hickory and Pecan are virtually indistinguishable species within the Walnut family of trees. The appearance of Hickory/Pecan sapwood is white, and quite often tinged with brown. The heartwood ranges in color from pale brown, to brown with red tinges. The heartwood occasionally takes on deeper reddish-brown tones, and is referred to as “red” Hickory. Both the sapwood and heartwood are course in texture, usually with a fine, straight grain.
Formal Name: Carya Spp
Poplar sapwood ranges in color from creamy white, to greyish-white, to white with a yellowish cast, and is sometimes striped. The heartwood, which is usually tan, also presents a wide variety of tones, sometimes with a slightly greenish cast, and occasionally with dark purplish streaks. Poplar offers a uniform, fine texture and is light to medium in weight with a straight grain.
Formal Name: Liriodendron Tulipifera
Other Names:
Yellow Poplar, Tulip Wood
Red Oak sapwood ranges from white to light brown in color. Most varieties of Red Oak heartwood will have golden, reddish tones, although some display deeper, reddish-brown tones. The wood has a course texture with a straight grain and shorter rays than White Oak.
Formal Name: Quercus Rubra
The sapwood of Soft Maple varies in color from creamy white to greyish-white, and is sometimes marked with darker colored pith flecks. Although not as rich as Hard Maple, the heartwood is similar in color, with reddish-brown tones ranging from light to dark. The growth rings of Soft Maple are not as distinct as those of Hard Maple. Soft Maple is straight-grained, without the exceptional burled or birds-eye characteristics that can be found in Hard Maple.
Formal Name: Acer Rubrum
Walnut sapwood is very creamy white in color, while the heartwood, which ranges in color from light to a rich, dark brown, and matures to an almost purplish-black hue. Walnut often carries characteristically dark brown or purplish streaks. Walnut has a coarse, yet uniform texture, and while usually straight-grained, it is sometimes wavy or curly. This species produces a large variety of figure types.
Formal Name: Black Walnut
Other Names:
Yellow Poplar, Tulip Wood
The sapwood of White Oak is light in color and can range from a pale yellow-brown to a greyish-white. The heartwood may be either light brown in color, or a darker brown with deep, golden tones. The distinctive coarse texture and straight grain has longer rays than Red Oak. Fasting-growing Oaks, such as those grown in the South, produce wider, more prominent growth rings.
Formal Name: Quercus Alba
Eastern White Pine is a soft Pine known for is light weight and fine, even texture. The sapwood usually appears pale and creamy, sometimes with yellow tones. The heartwood varies from a straw-like color to a deep yellowish-tan color. Resin ducts often appear as fine brown lines. The grain is straight with growth rings that are not well marked.
Formal Name: Quercus Alba
Other Names:
Knotty Pine