Greenheart (Chlorocardium rodiei) in numbers: hardness, weight, strength, shrinkage, movement and decay resistance, taken from the tables of the USDA Forest Products Laboratory’s Wood Handbook, followed by what the wood is like to work and what it is used for. The values are averages from small, clear, straight-grained test specimens; real boards with knots, sloping grain or a different moisture content will differ.
| Property | Greenheart |
|---|---|
| Janka side hardness, 12% moisture | 2,350 lbf (10,453 N) |
| Janka side hardness, green | 1,880 lbf |
| Hardness rank | harder than 154 of the 168 woods with a 12% hardness value in our database |
| Density at 12% moisture | 62.3 lb/ft³ (998 kg/m³)* |
| Weight per board foot (12%) | 5.19 lb* |
| Specific gravity (ovendry weight, green volume) | 0.8 |
| Specific gravity at 12% moisture | 0.89* |
| Bending strength (modulus of rupture), 12% | 24,900 psi |
| Stiffness (modulus of elasticity), 12% | 3.25 million psi |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain), 12% | 12,510 psi |
| Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial / tangential / volumetric | 8.8% / 9.6% / 17.1% |
| Tangential / radial shrinkage ratio | 1.09 |
| Dimensional change per 1% moisture (radial / tangential) | not reported |
| Heartwood decay resistance | very resistant |
What it is
Greenheart (Chlorocardium rodiei) is essentially a tree of Guyana, with small stands in neighbouring Suriname. The heartwood varies from light to dark olive green, sometimes nearly black. The texture is fine and uniform, and the grain is straight to wavy.
Its reputation rests on strength and durability rather than looks. The Handbook says greenheart is stronger and stiffer than white oak, and in our data its stiffness of 3.25 million psi is well above white oak’s.
Working properties
Its high density makes greenheart generally more difficult to work with tools than oak. Treat it like other very dense tropical woods: carbide blades, slow feed rates and pre-drilled holes. Splinters of dense tropical woods can be painful and slow to heal, so wear gloves when handling rough stock.
The heartwood is rated very resistant to decay fungi and termites and is in the very resistant class of Table 14-1. It is also very resistant to marine borers in temperate waters, but the Handbook warns that it is much less so in warm tropical waters. Shrinkage is high, about 17.1% by volume from green to ovendry.
Weight and density
At 12% moisture content greenheart weighs about 62.3 lb per cubic foot (estimated from its specific gravity and shrinkage), so one board foot (144 cubic inches) weighs about 5.19 lb. An 8 ft board of actual size 3/4 × 5-1/2 in. (a 1×6) holds 0.229 cubic feet and weighs about 14.3 lb; an 8 ft piece 1-1/2 × 3-1/2 in. (a 2×4 size) weighs about 18.2 lb. Green wood is much heavier because of the water it holds.
Density here is ovendry weight plus 12% water, divided by volume at 12% moisture content (Wood Handbook Eq. 4-12: density = specific gravity at 12% × 62.43 lb/ft³ × 1.12).
How it compares
| Species | Janka (lbf) | Density (lb/ft³) | Bending (psi) | Stiffness (Mpsi) | Tangential shrink (%) | Decay resistance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenheart | 2,350 | 62.3* | 24,900 | 3.25 | 9.6 | very resistant |
| Ipe | 3,680 | 64.0† | 25,400 | 3.14 | 8.0 | very resistant |
| Jarrah | 1,910 | 54.0† | 16,200 | 1.88 | 11.0 | very resistant |
| Courbaril (jatoba) | 2,350 | 53.8* | 19,400 | 2.16 | 8.5 | resistant |
| White oak | 1,360 | 47.5 | 15,200 | 1.78 | 10.5 | resistant |
| Black locust | 1,700 | 48.2 | 19,400 | 2.05 | 7.2 | very resistant |
Uses
Greenheart is used mainly where strength and resistance to wear are needed: ship and dock building, lock gates, wharves, piers, jetties, vats, piling, planking, industrial flooring and bridges. It is also used for specialty items such as fishing rods and billiard cue butts.
Frequently asked questions
Why is greenheart used for lock gates and piers?
It combines very high strength and stiffness with heartwood that resists decay, termites and, in temperate waters, marine borers, and it wears slowly.
How hard is greenheart?
The Wood Handbook gives a Janka side hardness of 2,350 lbf (10,453 N) at 12% moisture content, about 1.7 times that of white oak.
How heavy is greenheart?
We estimate about 62.3 lb per cubic foot at 12% moisture content from its specific gravity; the Handbook text puts air-dried greenheart above 60 lb per cubic foot. Either way it is close to or heavier than water.
Is greenheart resistant to shipworm?
In temperate waters it is very resistant to marine borers. In warm tropical waters it is much less resistant, according to the Handbook.
Sources
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-190, 2010. Chapter 2 (species descriptions), Chapter 4 (Tables 4-3, 4-4 shrinkage; Eq. 4-7, 4-9, 4-12 density), Chapter 5 (Tables 5-3b, 5-5b strength and hardness), Chapter 13 (Table 13-5 dimensional change coefficients), Chapter 14 (Table 14-1 decay resistance)
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook, 2021 edition (FPL-GTR-282)
Last reviewed: 24 October 2026. Numbers are generated from our parsed copy of the Handbook tables, so every page uses the same data. Values marked * are estimates computed with the Handbook’s own equations. Spotted an error? Please let us know.