Garapa

Garapa (Apuleia leiocarpa)
Grapia, Grapiapunha, Barajuba.

Origin:

Okoume trees grow in western equatorial Africa. Sites of this plant are found primarily in western and central Gabon and in much smaller areas in neighbouring countries such as: Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea. The preferred communities are mainly inland rainforests, where up to 40-50 trees can grow per hectare. Okoume are also found in gallery forests and savannahs.

Tree habit:

Okoume trees produce straight, cylindrical, highly branched trunks with board-like flutes, reaching 3 m in height. At felling age (about 50 years), the plant is about 25 m tall and has a diameter at the butt (not counting flutes) of 80-90 cm. The largest specimens can be 35-40 m tall, or even 60 m, with a diameter at the butt of over 2 m.

Structure type:

Diffuse-vascular, the vessels are evenly distributed, either singly or in radial clusters. The diameter of the vessels ranges from 0.07 to 0.57 mm.

Sapwood:

Narrow (3 to 5 cm wide), whitish-yellow in colour.

Heartwood:

Stained lemon yellow in freshly sawn wood. When exposed to light and oxygen in the air, heartwood darkens slightly to a yellow-brown colour.      

Fragrance:

The wood does not emit any characteristic odour.

Pattern:

Annual increments are very faint, practically only discernible on the cross-section and possibly tangentially. The pattern of the straight-fibred wood is not very varied. The vessels "blend" into the background of the pastel wood tissue, and the fine medullary rays are only visible in radial section. These are heterocellular rays. The wood contains diffuse apotracheal parenchyma. This wood very often shows an intricate grain pattern ranging from striped to irregular. The different reflectance of the angled fibres creates an interesting visual effect.   

Typical defects:

An intricate arrangement of fibres.  

Properties of Garapa wood:

According to the six-grade density scale, it is very heavy wood, class I. The moisture of the fibre saturation point is quite low (21%). According to Monnin's classification, garapa is a medium-shrinkage wood, with a low tendency to warp due to its low shrinkage anisotropy. The ratio of shrinkage in the tangential direction to shrinkage in the radial direction does not exceed 1.5. The high density of wood has a beneficial effect on its mechanical properties. For example, the average compressive strength along the fibres is 71 MPa and the flexural strength is as high as 125 MPa. The wood is also characterised by a high modulus of elasticity, in the order of 15.7 Gpa. In wood containing an intricate arrangement of fibres, these values are lower.  

Similar species:

Occurring in the same area with identical trade names, e.g. Vochysia bifalcata, V. Haenkeana, Plathymeria reticulata, Maclura tinctoria, Aspidosperma spuceanum, Chimaris barbata.

Drying:

The drying process of the wood should be carried out in a gentle manner due to the risk of cracking. In addition, the wood in question is prone to warping.     

Working:

Working by hand and machine, due to its high hardness, requires the use of well-prepared tools and considerable forces (high cutting resistance).   

Joining:

Connections using screws and nails are durable, but to prevent the wood from splitting, they require pre-drilling. Bonding gives a permanent connection.    

Finishing:

Wood is not difficult to finish with paint and varnish materials. 

Intended use:

flooring, panelling, stairs, boatbuilding.

Availability
38 mm – KD – SE edged – FAS grade

• Mechanical properties: Working is not difficult, bonding is good, nailing requires pre-drilling
• Modulus of elasticity: 14.9 GPa
• Tangential shrinkage: 7.5%
• Radial shrinkage: 4.2%
• Specific gravity: 860 kg/m³ (12%)
• Durability: species poorly resistant to destructive fungal attack
• Dry wood pests: resistant – risk limited to sapwood penetration
• Protections: class 3 – poorly-accepting