''Peltogyne'', commonly known as purpleheart, violet wood, amaranth and other local names (often referencing the colour of the wood) is a genus of 23 species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the family Fabaceae; native to

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equa ...

s of Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

; from Guerrero, Mexico, through Central America, and as far as south-eastern Brazil. They are medium-sized to large

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s growing to tall, with trunk diameters of up to . The leaves are alternate, divided into a symmetrical pair of large leaflets long and broad. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are small, with five white petals, produced in panicles. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a pod containing a single seed. The timber is desirable, but difficult to work.

Distribution

The species of the genus range from southeastern Brazil through northern South America, Panama, Costa Rica, and Trinidad, with the majority of species in the Amazon Basin. ''P. mexicana'' is a geographic outlier, native to the Mexican state of

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

Overharvesting Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term ap ...

has caused several species to become endangered in areas where they were once abundant.

Wood

The trees are prized for their beautiful

heartwood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

which, when cut, quickly turns from a light

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

to a rich

purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, ...

color. Exposure to

ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation ...

(UV) light darkens the wood to a brown color with a slight hue of the original purple. This effect can be minimized with a finish containing a UV inhibitor. The dry timber is very hard, stiff, and dense with a

specific gravity Relative density, or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for liquids is nearly always measured with respect to water at its densest ...

of 0.86 (). Purpleheart is correspondingly difficult to work with. It is very durable and water-resistant.

Uses and hazards

Purpleheart is prized for use in fine

inlay Inlay covers a range of techniques in sculpture and the decorative arts for inserting pieces of contrasting, often colored materials into depressions in a base object to form Ornament (art), ornament or pictures that normally are flush with th ...

work especially on musical instruments, guitar fret boards (although rarely),

woodturning Woodturning is the craft of using a wood lathe with hand-held tools to cut a shape that is symmetrical around the axis of rotation. Like the potter's wheel, the wood lathe is a simple mechanism that can generate a variety of forms. The operator ...

cabinetry A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (s ...

, flooring, and furniture. It is also used in many hobby woodworking projects, such as bottle stoppers, pens, bowls, knife scales, and jewelry boxes. The timber is also valuable in applications that require toughness, such as

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

decking. Purpleheart presents a number of challenges in the woodshop. Its hard-to-detect interlocking grain makes hand-planing, chiseling and working with carving tools a challenge. However, woodturners can note that with sharp tools, it turns clean, and sands well. Exposure to the dust generated by cutting and sanding purpleheart can cause skin, eye, and respiratory irritation and nausea, possibly because of the presence of dalbergione (

neoflavonoid Neoflavonoids are a class of polyphenolic compounds. While flavonoids (in the narrow sense) have the 2-phenylchromen-4-one backbone, neoflavonoids have the 4-phenylchromen backbone with no hydroxyl group substitution at position 2. Types Neoflav ...

) compounds in the wood. This also makes purpleheart wood unsuitable to most people for use in jewelry. Purpleheart is also a fairly expensive wood, which is why it is usually used in smaller-scale projects.

Species

The following list of species is according to Plants of the World Online.''Peltogyne'' in POWO
last accessed 10 April 2021 *'' Peltogyne altissima'' Ducke *'' Peltogyne angustiflora'' Ducke *'' Peltogyne campestris'' Ducke *'' Peltogyne catingae'' Ducke *'' Peltogyne chrysopis'' Barneby *'' Peltogyne crenulata'' Afr.Fern. *'' Peltogyne discolor'' Vogel *'' Peltogyne excelsa'' Ducke *'' Peltogyne floribunda'' (Kunth) Pittier *'' Peltogyne gracilipes'' Ducke *'' Peltogyne heterophylla'' M.F.Silva *'' Peltogyne lecointei'' Ducke *'' Peltogyne maranhensis'' Ducke *'' Peltogyne mattosiana'' Rizzini *'' Peltogyne mexicana'' Martinez *''

Peltogyne paniculata ''Peltogyne'', commonly known as purpleheart, violet wood, amaranth and other local names (often referencing the colour of the wood) is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae; native to tropical rainforests of Central A ...

'' Benth. *'' Peltogyne paradoxa'' Ducke *'' Peltogyne parvifolia'' Benth. *'' Peltogyne pauciflora'' Benth. *'' Peltogyne prancei'' M.F.Silva *'' Peltogyne purpurea'' Pittier *'' Peltogyne recifensis'' Ducke *'' Peltogyne subsessilis'' W.A.Rodrigues *'' Peltogyne venosa'' (M.Vahl) Benth.

Gallery

File:Purpleheart wood.jpg, Image:Purpleheart-Lyptus-Cherrywoods.jpg, A board laminated with Purpleheart (the darkest of the three), as well as the lighter colored cherry and the salmon colored Lyptus. File:Peltogyne sp. MHNT.BOT.2010.6.48.jpg, Peltogyne sp. - MHNT

References

*
Virtual Flora of Guyana: ''Peltogyne'' herbarium photos
* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q687351 Detarioideae Fabaceae genera Flora of Guyana Flora of Brazil Flora of Suriname