Red silkwood; bauvudi; sacau (Fiji); pencil cedar (Papua New Guinea); faibaru; maliolo (Solomon Islands); nato; red nato (Philippines); pali; njatuh; balam; punti; nantu; siki; soko (Indonesia); kha-nunnok (Thailand)

Other species of Palaquium are sold under the standard trade names nyatoh (with other genera of the Sapotaceae family), nyatoh-batu (harder, heavier species) and red silkwood (P. galactoxylum, once harvested from Queensland forests).

• Tall hardwood to 30m high and 1m diameter.
• Some species are buttressed.
• Outer bark is brown, grey or red depending on species.

• Occurs on varied sites from coastal peat swamps to mountainous regions.
• Widely distributed including:
  • Thailand
  • Malaysia
  • Philippines
  • Indonesia
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Solomon Islands
  • Fiji.

Colour

• Heartwood is generally pink to red-brown, but varies between species.
• Sapwood is pink-brown and not always distinct.

Grain

• Grain is straight to interlocked with a moderately fine texture.

• Construction: light construction, protected framing and boards, internal covered flooring.
• Decorative: interior joinery, mouldings, lining, panelling, veneer, cabinet work.
• Others: dowels, turnery, carving, furniture carcasses, boat building; often seen in Australia in outdoor settings and BBQ trolleys.

• Density: 540–720 kg/m³ at 12% moisture content; about 1.8m³ of seasoned sawn timber per tonne.
• Strength groups: S6 unseasoned, SD7 seasoned.
• Stress grades: F4, F5, F7, F8 (unseasoned); F5, F7, F8, F11 (seasoned) when visually stress-graded according to AS 2082—2000: Timber—Hardwood—Visually stress-graded for structural purposes.
• Joint groups: JD4 seasoned.
• Shrinkage to 12% MC: P. galactoxylum—4.2% (tangential), 1.5% (radial); P. hornei—7.8% (tangential), 6.1% (radial); P. amboinense—3.9% (tangential), 1.7% (radial).
• Unit shrinkage: P. galactoxylum—0.29% (tangential), 0.14% (radial); P. hornei—0.36% (tangential), 0.28% (radial); P. amboinense—0.25% (tangential), 0.14% (radial).
• Durability above-ground: Class 4 (life expectancy less than 7 years).
• Durability in-ground: Class 4 (life expectancy less than 5 years).
• Lyctid susceptibility: untreated sapwood susceptible to lyctid borer attack.
• Termite resistance: not resistant.
• Preservation: sapwood and heartwood cannot be readily impregnated with preservatives using currently available commercial processes.
• Seasoning: be careful when drying to minimise distortion, collapse and checking.
• Hardness: soft (rated 5 on a 6-class scale) to indent and work with hand tools.
• Machining: working properties vary with silica content; generally, easy to work with both machine and hand tools.
• Fixing: no difficulties using standard fittings and fastenings.
• Gluing: satisfactorily bonds using standard procedures.
• Finishing: readily accepts paint, stain, and takes a good polish after filling.

General characteristics

• Sapwood: light pink-brown, only slightly distinct from heartwood.
• Heartwood: reddish brown, pink brown, tends to fade with exposure.
• Texture: fine and even, grain is straight to interlocked or wavy.

Wood structure

• Vessels: medium size, visible to the unaided eye; some solitary, but mostly as radial multiples of 2–6 in chain-like form; tyloses ; obvious vessel lines.
• Parenchyma (soft tissue): apotracheal as regularly spaced, fine bands.
• Rays: very fine, visible through lens only.

Other features

• Burning splinter test: match-size splinter burns to an ash.
• Froth test: most species of palaquium test positive.

• Boland, DJ, Brooker, MIH, Chippendale, GM, Hall, N, Hyland, BPM, Johnston, RD, Kleinig, DA and Turner, JD 2006, Forest trees of Australia, 5th ed., CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood Australia.
• Bootle, K 2005, Wood in Australia: Types, properties and uses, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, Sydney.
• Ilic, J 1991, CSIRO atlas of hardwoods, Crawford House Press, Bathurst, Australia.
• Queensland Government, DAF 2018, Construction timbers in Queensland: Properties and specifications for satisfactory performance of construction timbers in Queensland. Class 1 and Class 10 buildings, Books 1 & 2, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Brisbane.
• Standards Australia, 2000, AS 2082—2000: Timber—Hardwood—Visually stress-graded for structural purposes, Standards Australia International, Strathfield, NSW.