Mora (Mora excelsa and M. gonggrijpii)

Mora is an imported hardwood

Location

Mora (Mora excelsa and M. gonggrijpii) is widely distributed in the Guianas and also occurs in the Orinoco Delta of Venezuela.

Characteristics

The yellowish red-brown, reddish brown, or dark red heartwood with pale streaks is distinct from the yellowish to pale brown sapwood. The texture is moderately fine to rather coarse, and the grain is straight to interlocked. Mora is a strong and heavy wood (density of air-dried wood is 945 to 1,040 kg/m3 (59 to 65 lb/ft3)); this wood is moderately difficult to work but yields smooth surfaces in sawing, planing, turning, and boring. The wood is generally rated as moderately difficult to dry. Mora is rated as durable to very durable in resistance to brown- and white-rot fungi. Mora gonggrijpii is rated very resistant to dry-wood termites, but M. excelsa is considerably less resistant. The sapwood responds readily to preservative treatments, but the heartwood resists treatment.

Primary Uses

Mora is used for industrial flooring, railroad crossties, shipbuilding, and heavy construction.

*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.