Argentine Osage Orange

Argentine Osage Orange (Maclura tinctoria)

Common Name(s): Argentine Osage Orange, Fustic

Scientific Name: Maclura tinctoria (syn. Chlorophora tinctoria)

Distribution: Tropical America (West Indies, Central and South America)

Tree Size: 60-80 ft (18-25 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter

Average Dried Weight: 57 lbs/ft³ (910 kg/m³)

Basic Specific Gravity: .75

Hardness: 2,380 lb_f (10,590 N)

Rupture Strength: 19,560 lb_f/in² (134,900 kPa)

Elastic Strength: 2,160,000 lb_f/in² (14,900 MPa)

Crushing Strength: 11,710 lb_f/in² (80.8 MPa)

Shrinkage: Radial: 3.4%, Tangential: 5.4%, Volumetric: 7.8%, T/R Ratio: 1.6

Color/Appearance: Heartwood is golden to bright yellow, which almost certainly ages to a darker medium brown with time: primarily due to exposure to UV light. See the article Preventing Color Changes in Exotic Woods for more details.

Grain/Pore: Has a straight to interlocked grain, with a fine to medium texture.

Endgrain: Diffuse-porous; medium pores in no specific arrangement; solitary, and commonly in radial multiples of 2-3; tyloses and other deposits common; growth rings may be distinct due to seemingly marginal parenchyma; rays visible without lens; parenchyma banded, paratracheal parenchyma vasicentric, aliform (lozenge and winged), and confluent.

Durability: Argentine Osage Orange is very durable and has good weathering characteristics; it is also resistant to termites.

Workability: Working this wood can be difficult due to its hardness and density, though it is reported to have little dulling effect on cutting edges. It turns well, and also takes stains, glues and finishes well.

Scent: There is no characteristic odor associated with this wood species.

Safety: Sap has been reported to cause dermatitis. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

Price/Availability: Argentine Osage Orange should be moderately priced for an imported hardwood. Prices are likely to be comparable to the domestic species of Osage Orange.

Comments: Argentine Osage Orange is known by a host of names throughout its natural range in South America, though historically the wood has been known in English as Fustic. However, because of its close relation and similar working properties to Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) found in North America, merchants of imported hardwoods have referred to this wood as Argentine Osage Orange. This imported wood tends to be available in larger sizes, and with less knots or twists than the domestic species. (Though it appears, at least on paper, that Maclura pomifera has a lower modulus of elasticity, making it more flexible—which may be good or bad depending upon the intended application.)

Argentine Osage Orange is sometimes called Fustic because the wood contains a yellow dye called fustic—which has historically been used in making brown, yellow, and green colored dyes for fabric. Some other common uses of the wood include include: heavy construction (within the tree’s natural range), flooring, furniture, turnings, and other small specialty wood items.