Brazilian Cherry Hardwood Flooring
Where does Cherry Hardwood Flooring come from and What is it.
Cherry Hardwood is used for flooring and is also known as Jatobá or Guapinol (Hymenaea courbaril). It is a tree common to the Caribbean, Central, and South America. It is a hardwood used for furniture, flooring. Stock coming from the southern hemisphere is also referred to as Brazilian Cherry.
Jatoba and all it’s other names by which it is referred to such as Brazilian Cherry or South American Cherry hardwood, is actually not from a cherry tree and it is not botanically related to the Black Cherry (Prunus serotina), a very common American hardwood either. Depending what part of South America or Caribbean it comes from Jatoba is also known as Brazilian Copal, South American Locust, the West Indian Locust Tree, or Stinking Toe, Old Man’s Toe or Stinktoe do to the unpleasant odor of the edible pulp inside its seed pods.
Jatoba produces an orange, resinous, sticky gum that turns into amber through a chemical process which takes millions of years. Amber from million year old Hymenaea trees have given scientists many clues to its prehistoric presence on Earth and many extinct insects and plants have been found encased in it.
Jatoba is a very hard wood measuring 5.6 on the Brinell scale or 2350 lbf on the Janka scale. As a comparison, Douglas Fir measures 660 lbf, White Oak 1360 lbf, and Brazilian Walnut 3800 lbf on the Janka scale.
Jatoba or Brazilian Cherry hardwood, whatever you choose to call it has a tan/salmon color with black accent stripes that over time turn into a deep rich red color.
