Gonçalo alves is a hardwood (from the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
name, Gonçalo Alves). It is sometimes referred to as tigerwood—a name that underscores the wood's often dramatic, contrasting color scheme, that some compare to
rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues.
True rosewoods
All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated in ...
.
While the sapwood is very light in color, the heartwood is a sombre brown, with dark streaks that give it a unique look. The wood's color deepens with exposure and age and even the plainer-looking wood has a natural luster.
Two
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
are usually listed as sources for gonçalo alves: ''
Astronium fraxinifolium
''Astronium fraxinifolium'' is a timber tree, which is native to Amazon Rainforest, Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, and Cerrado vegetation in Brazil. Common names include kingwood, locustwood, tigerwood, and zebrawood. It is known in Portuguese as Gon ...
'' and ''
Astronium graveolens
''Astronium graveolens'' is a species of flowering tree in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae, that is native to the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Bolivia. Common names include glassywood, ronrón ...
'', although other species in the genus may yield similar wood; the amount of striping that is present may vary. All trees grow in
neotropical
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In bioge ...
forests; Brazil is a major exporter of these woods.
References
{{Reflist
Wood
Plant common names