Geographic Distribution:
The wood commonly known by wood workers as Greenheart is known to botanists and other scientists as Chlorocardium rodiei. In older works and sources it may also be listed as Ocotea rodiei.
C. rodiei is native to Guyana and Suriname in South America with most of the supplies reaching the United States coming from Guyana.
For the sake of simplicity and common understanding I will refer to C. rodiei from here forward using the common name Greenheart.
General Characteristics:
The heartwood of Greenheart tends toward a pale olive green color with darker streaks prominent. The sapwood is yellowish in color and tends to be poorly differentiated from the heartwood.
The grain of Greenheart varies from straight to interlocked, fine to medium in appearance. When it is well sanded and polished Greenheart has a good natural luster and shine.
Greenheart is rated as very durable against rot and it is also resistant to most insect attacks. Greenheart is considered to be one of the best suited wood for marine environments due to its resistance to rot. Greenheart also weathers well when used in outdoor settings.
Working Characteristics:
In general, Greenheart can be somewhat difficult to work with because of its high density. Greenheart will have a moderate to high blunting effect on cutters so frequent sharpening or cutter changes are highly recommended.
As is true of any species of wood, sections with interlocked or highly figured grain require great caution in machining to prevent tearout.
Gluing is sometimes difficult and the well-established procedures for gluing tropical woods should be followed carefully.
Greenheart turns well and it is also easy to finish.
Greenheart responds moderately well to steam bending.
Greenheart displays no characteristic odor when cut or otherwise worked.
Pricing and Availability:
Greenheart is seldom available in the United States in lumber form. Greenheart is usually sold for decking or other outdoor materials. Prices should be moderate for an imported exotic species, but finding a source may be a problem.
In this blog, I almost always recommend several vendors with whom I have done considerable business and in whom I have great confidence. These vendors are: West Penn Hardwoods, Bell Forest Products, NC Wood, WoodTurningz, Amazon Exotic Hardwoods, Griffin Exotic Wood, Exotic Woods USA, Got Wood?, and Wood Turning Blanks 4U.
At this time none of these fine vendors is offering Greenheart. A simple Internet search returns some vendors offering spindle blanks as well as some bowl blanks sizes but I have no personal knowledge of any of the listed vendors selling on both Amazon and eBay.
Woodfinder is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers. In your search for Greenheart, this can be an invaluable resource provided you use multiple search terms to capture all the possible listings. I can’t speak to the quality of any of the listed dealers, but Woodfinder does have the advantage of allowing searches to be performed based on location which might allow an interested buyer to visit a listed wood dealer in person to hand pick pieces at a comfortable price.
A significant problem with using Woodfinder is that many vendors are listed for woods that, upon further investigation, they do not offer. I don’t know if perhaps once they did and they didn’t update their listings or if some vendors use a standardized list of woods that include most everything conceivable with the idea that once you land on their page you will find something you want to buy even if you didn’t know it beforehand. It happens to me all the time!
Common Uses:
The majority of the common uses of Greenheart reflect its suitability for marine environments. Greenheart is most commonly used in boatbuilding, docks, decking, posts, fishing rods, pool cues, and other turned wood items.
Sustainability:
Greenheart is not listed as being endangered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices but it is listed by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Data Deficient. Previously, the ICUN had listed Greenheart on its Red List of Threatened Species but the Guyana Forestry Commission disputed this listing and Greenheart was removed from the Red List.