Sapwood is narrow and white in colour and the heartwood a rich pink/red, turning red. The wood turns brown with age and is streaked with mauve to purplish markings.

African Rosewood is easy to work and polish and is excellent for flooring, furniture, veneer and cabinet-making and renowned in the manufacture of fine musical instruments.

Sapwood is narrow, streaked and varies in colour from light golden-brown to deep brown, sometimes with a red-pink tint or black streaks. It is easily worked, very stable and durable. The grain can be straight or wavy with a natural lustre.

Cape Blackwood is an excellent furniture making timber favoured by South Africa’s designers, joiners and cabinetmakers. The timber has many uses including joinery, furniture, feature paneling and lamination.

This tree is common in Southern Cape forests. The wood has a dark pink/brown colour, sometimes intensely red. It has a dense, fine grain and is heavy, hard and can be prone to cracking across extended surfaces.

Candlewood is extremely hard, difficult to work and should be drilled for nails and screws. It is an amazing wood for turning and for use in some items of furniture if it has been carefully seasoned.

This interesting wood has a white to dull pinkish brown colour that darkens with light exposure. The grain is even and best when quarter sawn. The wood is fairly heavy, hard, strong and elastic but difficult to season and best air-dried.

Cape Beech has is user-friendly, takes nails well and does not require pre-boring for screws. It is a user-friendly, stable wood for unusual and interesting furniture.

Hard Pear is honey brown to reddish in colour. The grain is fine, often with a beautiful ripple which can only be seen when the wood has been cut and planed. Older logs have a dark centre portion. The timber is hard to work, incredibly dense and requires careful management during drying. Supply is scarce.

Hard Pear is difficult to saw, drill and glue but worth the effort because of its beautiful pearlescent ripple.

Stinkwood varies from light cream, through brown to almost black. It is also finely textured and fairly heavy, hard and dense.

Stinkwood is one of the most highly-valued furniture woods due to its historical significance and the rarity, stability and beauty of the timber. It is used for doors, windows and gun-stocks.

Yellowwood is light yellowish-brown with little to distinguish between sapwood and heartwood. It is straight-grained, uniformly textured and strong, without being especially durable. Outiniqua Yellowood (Podocarpus falcatus) is a sub-species with black graining through yellow wood. The wood ages well, becoming richer with UV exposure.

Yellowwood is easy to work with hand and machine tools. It turns, planes, moulds and glues to make beautiful furniture. Many of South Africa’s historical buildings are constructed using Yellowwood.

White Elder is a rare tree found in moister forest areas and never in abundance. Its colour varies from yellowish-white to deep brown and has a straight, fine grain.

The wood is relatively soft and light, difficult to season due to its inherently high moisture content, but very stable. It is ideal for all types of furniture and for steam bending.