Dendropanax arboreus

Angelica Tree

Family: Araliaceae

Other Common Names: Polio (Puerto Rico), Lengua de vaca (Dominican Republic), Mano de oso, Palo santo (Mexico), Nagua blanca, Vaquero (Panama), Quesito, Pama (Venezuela) Banco (Colombia], Maria molle (Brazil).

Distribution: Common and widespread in tropical America, West Indies, Mexico, and southward to Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Bolivia. Frequently used for shade in coffee plantations.

The Tree: Typically a small tree, rarely up to 75 ft in height with a trunk diameter up to 25 in.; wide-spreading crown.

The Wood:

General Characteristics: There is no color differentiation between heartwood and sapwood; cream colored to grayish yellow. Grain is straight; texture medium and uniform; luster low to medium; without distinctive odor or taste.

Weight: Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.40; air-dry density 31 pcf.

Mechanical Properties: (First set of data based on 2-in. standard; second set on 1-in. standard.]

Moisture content Bending strength Modulus of elasticity Maximum crushing strength

(%) (Psi) (1,000 psi) (Psi)

12% (44) 10,400 1,640 NA

12% (41) 9,300 NA 4,400

Janka side hardness at 12% moisture content 725 lb for Panama material and 530 lb for Venezuela material.

Drying and Shrinkage: The wood air-dries rapidly without developing degrade due to checking or warping. No kiln schedule data available. Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial 5.1%; tangential 8.3%; volumetric 13.8%.

Working Properties: The wood is easy to work but tends to develop fuzzy grain during planing. A poor wood for turnery. Easy to cut into veneer.

Durability: The wood is very susceptible to attack by decay fungi and insects, also prone to blue stain.

Preservation: The wood is easy to treat with pressure-vacuum systems to get complete penetration and absorptions up to 20 pcf.

Uses: Boxes and crates, general carpentry and interior construction, utility furniture, millwork, veneer and plywood, particleboard.

Additional Reading: (26), (41), (44)

M 150 282-3Logs are delivered to a sawmill in southern Nigeria. African mahogany

(mostly Khaya ivorensis) is in high demand on overseas markets. Export of logs fro

this region, as well as from most other tropical areas, is being restricted.

M 150 282-2Band mills in Ghana are designed to handle logs 5 feet and more in

diameter. Obeche or Wawa (Triplochiton scleroxylon) logs yield lumber favored for

joinery and millwork.

M 150 273-14In many areas of the tropics, fast-growing species are being introduced

future supplies of fuel wood and industrial wood. Batai (Albizia falcataria) is

a favored plantation species in the Philipines.

M 150 273-13 Shores spp. is still the major timber group harvested in Southeast

Asia. With modern chain saws, fellers no longer need scaffolding to get above larg

buttresses.

M 150 281 Felling of white lauan or almon (Shorea a;mon) with axes in the early

1900s in the Philippines. Most hardwood plywood now imported into the USA is

produced from species of Shorea.

[M 150 273-9Plywood mill in San Jose, Costa Rica, produces rotary-cut veneers mostly from banak (Virola spp.) and crabwood or cedro macho (Carapa guianensis). Logs trucked in from the Caribbean coast.]

M 150 273-21Mahot or Tauary (Couratari spp.) grows from Panama south to the Brazilian Amazon. Trunk diameters may exceed 4 feet above the stout buttresses. In tropical American moist forests, single species usually make up less than 5 percent of the stand volume.