White Ash

COLOR: Heartwood is light tan to dark brown; sapwood is creamy white. Similar in appearance to white oak, but frequently more yellow.

GRAIN: Bold, straight, moderately open grain with occasional wavy figuring. Can have strong contrast in grain in plainsawn boards.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Sometimes confused with hickory; the zone of large pores is more distinctive in ash, similar to that of red oak.

Beech

COLOR: Heartwood is mostly reddish brown; sapwood is generally pale white.

GRAIN: Mostly closed, straight grain; fine, uniform texture. Coarser than European beech.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Only one species is native to the United States. Moderate to high color variation between boards.

Birch

COLOR: Heartwood is mostly reddish brown sapwood is mostly pale white.

GRAIN: Mostly closed, straight grain; fine, uniform texture. Coarser than European beech.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Yellow birch, sweet birch. Paper birch (B. papyrifera) is softer and lower in weight and strength than yellow or sweet birch. However, yellow birch is most commonly used for flooring. Boards can vary greatly in grain and color.

Brazilian Cherry

COLOR: Sapwood is gray-white; heartwood is salmon red to orange-brown when fresh, and becomes russet or reddish brown when seasoned; often marked with dark streaks.

GRAIN: Mostly interlocked; texture is medium to coarse.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Moderate color variation.

Black Cherry

COLOR: Heartwood is light to dark reddish brown, lustrous; sapwood is light brown to pale with a light pinkish tone. Some flooring manufacturers steam lumber to bleed the darker heartwood color into the sapwood, resulting in a more uniform color.

GRAIN: Fine, frequently wavy, uniform texture. Distinctive flake pattern on true quartersawn surfaces. Texture is satiny, with some gum pockets.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Significant color variation between boards.

Cypress

COLOR: Heartwood is light to dark reddish brown, lustrous; sapwood is light brown to pale with a light pinkish tone. Some flooring manufacturers steam lumber to bleed the darker heartwood color into the sapwood, resulting in a more uniform color.

GRAIN: Fine, frequently wavy, uniform texture. Distinctive flake pattern on true quartersawn surfaces. Texture is satiny, with some gum pockets.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Significant color variation between boards.

Douglas Fir

COLOR: Heartwood is yellowish tan to light brown. Sapwood is tan to white. Heartwood may be confused with that of Southern yellow pine. Radical color change upon exposure to sunlight.

GRAIN: Normally straight, with occasional wavy or spiral texture. Nearly all fir flooring is vertical-grain or riftsawn clear-grade material.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Wood varies greatly in weight and strength. Young trees of moderate to rapid growth have reddish heartwood and are called red fir. The narrow-ringed wood of old trees may be yellowish-brown and is known as yellow fir.

Heart Pine

COLOR: Heartwood is yellow after cutting and turns deep pinkish tan to warm reddish brown within weeks due to high resin content. Sapwood remains yellow with occasional blue-black sap stain.

GRAIN: Dense, with high figuring. Plainsawn is swirled; rift- or quartersawn is primarily pinstriped. Curly or burl grain is rare.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Moderate color variation.

Hickory & Pecan

COLOR: Pecan heartwood is reddish brown with dark brown stripes; sapwood is white or creamy white with pinkish tones. Hickory heartwood is tan or reddish, sapwood is white to cream with fine brown lines.

GRAIN: Pecan is open, occasionally wavy or irregular. Hickory is closed, with moderate definition; somewhat rough-textured.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: In both hickory and pecan, there are often pronounced differentiations in color between spring wood and summer wood. In pecan, sapwood is usually graded higher than darker heartwood. Pecan and hickory are traditionally mixed by flooring mills.

Jarrah

COLOR: Heartwood is uniformly pinkish to dark red, often a rich, dark red mahogany hue, turning a deep brownish red with age and exposure; sapwood is pale. Frequent black streaks with occasional ingrown grain.

GRAIN: Frequently interlocked or wavy. Texture is even and moderately coarse.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Moderate to high color variation.

Mahogany

COLOR: Dark reddish brown.

GRAIN: Striped figuring in quartersawn selections; texture is even and very fine.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Moderate color variation.

Sugar Maple

COLOR: Heartwood is creamy white to light reddish brown; sapwood is pale to creamy white.

GRAIN: Closed, subdued grain, with medium figuring and uniform texture. Occasionally shows quilted fiddleback, curly or bird's-eye figuring. Figured boards often culled during grading and sold at premium.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Black maple (B. nigrum) is also hard; other species are classified as soft.

Merbau

COLOR: Heartwood is yellowish to orange-brown when freshly cut, turning brown or dark red-brown upon exposure.

GRAIN: Straight to interlocked or wavy; coarse texture.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Moderate to high variation in color.

Mesquite

COLOR: Light brown to dark reddish brown.

GRAIN: High in character, with ingrown bark and mineral streaks. Most commonly used in flooring as end-grain block, which has small irregular cracks radiating across the grain.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: One grade; moderate color variations.

Red Oak

COLOR: Heartwood and sapwood are similar, with sapwood lighter in color; most pieces have a reddish tone. Slightly redder than white oak.

GRAIN: Open slightly coarser (more porous) than white oak . Plainsawn boards have a plumed or flared grain appearance; riftsawn has a tighter grain pattern, low figuring; quartersawn has a flake pattern, sometimes called tiger rays or butterflies.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: More than 200 subspecies in North America; great variation in color and grain, depending on the origin of the wood and corresponding differences in growing seasons, Northern, Southern Appalachian red oak can all be divided into upland and lowland species. Because they grow more slowly, upland species generally have a more uniform grain pattern than lowland species, with more growth rings per inch.

White Oak

COLOR: Heartwood is light brown; some boards may have a pinkish tint or a slight grayish cast. Sapwood is white to cream.

GRAIN: Open with longer rays than red oak. Occasional crotches, swirls and burls. Plainsawn boards have a plumed or flared grain appearance; riftsawn has a tighter grain pattern, low figuring; quartersawn has a flake pattern, sometimes called tiger rays or butterflies.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Considerable variation among boards in color and grain texture, but variations not as pronounced as in red oak.

Padauk

COLOR: Heartwood is vivid reddish orange when freshly cut, darkening to reddish- or purple-brown or black over time. Sapwoodis cream-colored. Very uniform in color.

GRAIN: Straight to interlocked; coarse texture.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Slight variation in color.

Southern Yellow Pine

COLOR: Heartwood varies from light yellow/orange to reddish brown or yellowish brown; sapwood is light tan to yellowish white.

HARDNESS: Janka hardness of 690 as compared to the hardness of 1290 for Red Oak.

GRAIN: Generally straight but uneven grained with a medium texture. #2C will have more knots than a regular C-grade.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Low to Moderate color variation.

Purpleheart

COLOR: Heartwood varies from light yellow/orange to reddish brown or yellowish brown sapwood is light tan to yellowish white.

GRAIN: Closed, with high figuring; patterns range from clear to knotty.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Longleaf pine (P. palustris), shortleaf.

Teak

COLOR: Heartwood varies from yellow-brown to dark golden brown; turns rich brown under exposure to sunlight. Sapwood is a lighter cream color.

GRAIN: Straight; coarse, uneven texture.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Moderate to high color variation.

Walnut

COLOR: Heartwood ranges from a deep, rich dark brown to purplish black. Sapwood is nearly white to tan. Difference between heartwood and sapwood color is great; some flooring manufacturers steam lumber to bleed to darker heartwood color into the sapwood, resulting in a more uniform color.

GRAIN: Mostly straight and open, but some boards have burled or curly grain. Arrangement of pores is similar to hickories and persimmon, but pores are smaller in size.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Great variety of color and figure within species, as well as variation in color among boards, especially in lower grades and from material that isn't steamed prior to kiln-drying.

Wenge

COLOR: Heartwood is yellow-brown when freshly cut, turning dark brown to almost black with alternate layers of light and dark. Sapwood is yellowish-white and clearly demarcated from heartwood.

GRAIN: Straight when quarterswan; coarse texture.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Moderate variations in color.

Brazilian Teak

THE ESSENCE OF NATURE: Teak's dark honey colour will give your room a classy and distinguished look. Wood lovers will appreciate its natural colour.

COLOR: Brazilian Teak varies from medium tan brown to a dark reddish brown with some pieces showing a black striping to them. Unlike most woods, Brazilian Teak undergoes little change in color due to exposure to sunlight.

GRAIN: Straight; coarse, uneven texture. Known for its exceptional hardness and durability, this exotic hardwood is a great choice for looks and longevity in both residential and commercial installations.

Brazilian Ebony

A SOPHISTACATED TEXTURE: Ebony offers distintive veins of dark bown and chocolate tones which contrast harmoniously.

COLOR: Its heartwood is purplish dark maroon to purplish black brown, with some light streaks. It gets lighter in color when sanded/milled and begins to darken when exposed to sun or air.

GRAIN: Straight or slightly interlocked depending on the board.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Moderate color variation

Brazilian Walnut

STRENGTH AND WARMTH: Brazilian Walnut's (Ipe) robustness is incomparable. It's soft greenish shades will take you to its propical and exotic origin, the rain forest.

COLOR: Tan color with greenish overtons to a medium brown.

GRAIN: Straight or slightly interlocked depending on the board.

VARIATIONS WITHIN SPECIES AND GRADES: Moderate color variation.