Mesquite

The heartwood is a rich, deep golden- to reddish-brown with darker wavy lines. It has a fine- to medium-textured open grain, ranging from straight to wavy in form. It often has dramatic figuring and very attractive burrs (burls). The sapwood is pale yellowish-white and up to 1in (25mm) thick. The variety illustrated is known as velvet mesquite.

Properties:

Mesquite is a hard, tough and heavy wood that has high crushing and bending strengths. It has medium stiffness and resistance to shock loads, and a moderate steam-bending classification. The wood works easily with both machine and hand tools, with only a slight blunting effect on cutters. Pre-boring is required for nailing. The wood glues well. Mesquite can be brought to a smooth finish, but it is not easy to achieve a good result with stains or polishes.

Seasoning:

It dries well, but can develop small checks when air-dried. There is small movement in service.

Durability:

Although a durable wood, it is moderately prone to termite attack. The sapwood is permeable for preservative treatment, but the heartwood is resistant.

Typical Uses:

Mesquite is now gaining commercial importance and has become popular for furniture making, flooring and decorative turnery. It is also used for railway sleepers (railroad ties), poles, piles, vehicle bodies and as a structural timber. Interesting logs are sliced for decorative veneers.

Prosopis juliflora (Mimosaceae)

Also called:

honey locust, ironwood, algarroba, honeypod, honey mesquite, Texas ironwood

Grows:

North and South America

Weight per Board Foot:

4.1 lbs

Typical dry weight:

50lb/ft3 (800kg/m3)

Specific Gravity:

.80

Typical Height:

20-40ft (6-13m)

Trunk Diameter:

up to 20in (0.5m)