Common Name and Type Genus: Lacewood family, derived from the Protea genus
Distribution: Primarily tropical regions in the Southern Hemisphere
Family Size: Approximately 60-90 genera and 1200-1700 species (with new genera and species still being described)
Notable Genera: This family is the source of the majority of lacewood or silky-oak type woods. Commercial standouts (past and present) include: Cardwellia, Grevillea, Panopsis, and Roupala.
Comments: Although Proteaceae is not known as the “lacewood family” in a botanical sense, from a woodworking perspective, wood from its trees almost always feature very wide, regularly-spaced rays, resulting in prominent ray fleck, especially on quartersawn surfaces.
Another closely-related family (both are in the order Proteales) which also has members that produce wood with a lacewood figure is Platanaceae—whose sole genus is Platanus, the plane (or, in North America, sycamore) genus.
Genera listing