Chinese Literature Name: African Pineapple
Latin scientific name: Erythrophleum
Alias: Gemu
Subfamily: Caesalpiniaceae
Distribution: Most of Africa
Latin name: Erythrophleum. Its wood has strong luster and interlaced texture, and its structure is very hard and strong. It is widely used in heavy construction, durable materials, bridges, ports and wharfs, sleepers, heavy-duty floors, vehicles, fishing boats, tool handles, etc.
Uses: Heavy building materials, bridges, ports and wharfs, outdoor anti-corrosive wood flooring, pavilions, wooden bridges, etc.
Trees, usually about 10 metres high, sometimes up to 30 metres high; young branches and buds are rusty pubescent. Leaves alternate, bipinnate, hairless; pinnates usually 3 pairs, opposite or nearly opposite, 20-30 cm long, with 8-12 lobules per pinna; lobules alternate, oval or oval, 5-8 cm long, 2.5-4 cm wide, apex acuminate, base rounded, bilateral asymmetric, margin entire; petioles 2.5-3 mm long.
Panicles arranged by spikes are 15-20 cm long; pedicels are rusty pubescent; calyx bell-shaped, outer pubescent, lobes oblong, margin densely pubescent; petals 5, yellowish-green, longer than sepals, oblanceolate, inner and margin densely pubescent; stamens 10, glabrous, twice as long as petals; ovaries oblong, petiolate, densely yellow-white pubescent outside. There are 10-12 ovules.
The pods are oblong, flat, 10-18 cm long, 3.5-4 cm wide, thick leathery and reticulated; the seeds are oblong, slightly flat, 2-2.5 cm long, 1.5-2 cm wide, and the seed coat is black-brown. Flowering from May to June; fruiting from August to October.
African pineapple grille is lustrous. Interlaced texture; Structures; Very hard; High strength; Very dry shrinkage. Sawing is difficult and easy to blunt; sawdust can stimulate the nose and throat; sanding, turning and adhesive properties are good. Very resistant to rot and termites. Slow drying, easy to warp and crack. Because of its good mechanical properties, durability and dimensional stability, it has become one of the mainstream materials for mahogany furniture. Suitable for heavy construction, durable materials, bridges, ports and wharfs, sleepers, heavy floor, vehicles, fishing boats, tool handles, etc.
Processing characteristics: the difference between heartwood and sapwood is obvious. Heartwood is yellowish-brown to reddish-brown with dark concentric circular stripes. The sapwood is light yellow; the width is 2-5 cm. The growth ring was not obvious. The bark is 1.0-2.0 cm thick, hard and brittle, and easy to fall off. The outer coat is grayish brown; slightly rough with distinct pits. The endothelium is dark brown. Bark with shallow pits. The endothelium is dark brown; the surface and the bottom of the wood are corrugated. The material is very hard.
Indonesian pineapple grilles can be processed into preservative wood for outdoor panel construction.