Piquia (Caryocar)

Piquia is an imported hardwood

Location

Piquia is the common name generally applied to species in the genus Caryocar. This genus is distributed from Costa Rica southward into northern Colombia and from the upland forest of the Amazon valley to eastern Brazil and the Guianas.

Characteristics

The yellowish to light grayish brown heartwood is hardly distinguishable from the sapwood. The texture is medium to rather coarse, and the grain is generally interlocked. The wood dries at a slow rate; warping and checking may develop, but only to a minor extent. Piquia is reported to be easy to moderately difficult to saw; cutting edges dull rapidly. The heartwood is very durable and resistant to decay fungi and dry-wood termites but only moderately resistant to marine borers.

Primary Uses

Piquia is recommended for general and marine construction, heavy flooring, railway crossties, boat parts, and furniture components. It is especially suitable where hardness and high wear resistance are needed.

*Much of the base wood information presented here is made available by the USDA FPL FS. If you are interested in a much more technical description of wood properties, I encourage you to visit the source.