Purpleheart (Peltogyne spp.) 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 | Purpleheart |
|---|---|
| Janka side hardness, 12% moisture | 1,860 lbf (8,274 N) |
| Janka side hardness, green | 1,810 lbf |
| Hardness rank | harder than 143 of the 168 woods with a 12% hardness value in our database |
| Density at 12% moisture | 49.8 lb/ft³ (797 kg/m³)* |
| Weight per board foot (12%) | 4.15 lb* |
| Specific gravity (ovendry weight, green volume) | 0.67 |
| Specific gravity at 12% moisture | 0.71* |
| Bending strength (modulus of rupture), 12% | 19,200 psi |
| Stiffness (modulus of elasticity), 12% | 2.27 million psi |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain), 12% | 10,320 psi |
| Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial / tangential / volumetric | 3.2% / 6.1% / 9.9% |
| Tangential / radial shrinkage ratio | 1.91 |
| Dimensional change per 1% moisture (radial / tangential) | not reported |
| Heartwood decay resistance | very resistant |
What it is
Purpleheart, also called amaranth, is the name applied to species of the genus Peltogyne. Their center of distribution is the north-central Brazilian Amazon, but the combined range of all species runs from Mexico through Central America and south to southern Brazil.
Freshly cut heartwood is brown. It turns a deep purple on exposure to air and eventually dark brown on exposure to light. The texture is medium to fine, and the grain is usually straight.
Working properties
Purpleheart is strong and heavy. The Handbook gives a wide range for the density of air-dried wood, and the density in our table, estimated from its specific gravity, sits near the bottom of that range. It is rated easy to moderately difficult to air dry. It is moderately difficult to work with hand or machine tools and dulls cutters rather quickly, and gummy resin oozes out when the wood is heated by dull tools, so the Handbook suggests a slow feed rate and specially hardened cutters. It turns easily, is easy to glue and takes finishes well.
The heartwood is rated highly resistant to attack by decay fungi and very resistant to dry-wood termites, and it is in the very resistant class of Table 14-1. It is extremely resistant to treatment with preservatives.
Weight and density
At 12% moisture content purpleheart weighs about 49.8 lb per cubic foot (estimated from its specific gravity and shrinkage), so one board foot (144 cubic inches) weighs about 4.15 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 11.4 lb; an 8 ft piece 1-1/2 × 3-1/2 in. (a 2×4 size) weighs about 14.5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purpleheart | 1,860 | 49.8* | 19,200 | 2.27 | 6.1 | very resistant |
| Ipe | 3,680 | 64.0† | 25,400 | 3.14 | 8.0 | very resistant |
| Courbaril (jatoba) | 2,350 | 53.8* | 19,400 | 2.16 | 8.5 | resistant |
| Shagbark hickory | 1,880 | 50.3 | 20,200 | 2.16 | 10.5 | slightly or nonresistant |
| White oak | 1,360 | 47.5 | 15,200 | 1.78 | 10.5 | resistant |
| Teak | 1,000 | 40.1* | 14,600 | 1.55 | 5.8 | very resistant (old growth); moderately resistant (young growth) |
Uses
Its unusual color makes purpleheart desirable for turnery, marquetry, cabinets, fine furniture, parquet flooring and specialty items such as billiard cue butts and carvings. It is also used for heavy construction, shipbuilding and chemical vats.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Janka hardness of purpleheart?
The Wood Handbook gives purpleheart a side hardness of 1,860 lbf (8,274 N) at 12% moisture content and 1,810 lbf green, about 1.4 times that of white oak.
Does purpleheart stay purple?
Not indefinitely. Freshly cut heartwood is brown, turns deep purple on exposure to air, and eventually turns dark brown on exposure to light.
Is purpleheart hard to work?
Moderately. It dulls cutters rather quickly, and dull tools heat the wood and draw out gummy resin, so the Handbook suggests a slow feed rate and specially hardened cutters. It turns easily, glues easily and takes finishes well.
Is purpleheart rot resistant?
Yes. Its heartwood is in the very resistant decay class of Wood Handbook Table 14-1 and is very resistant to dry-wood termites. It is also extremely resistant to preservative treatment.
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.