What color is wood may seem an easy question i suppose , but not always . All wood isn’t the same , around earth and in every place you are , wood has differences and unique properties .

The area in which you are acting your woodworking hobby and projects , plays a very significant role concerning your wood’s properties .

The fluids the tree has inside it , combined with the minerals and ingredients from the soil with our sun’s energy power , give to wood its color .

Extreme sunshine , extreme freeze , the hours in which the wood is exposed to the sun , affect to wood . The moisture , height , distance from the sea , the micro-environment and flora , the bugs/fungi , the ingredients of the soil , affect the color too .

I’ll try to cover all the possible wood colors , with many showing – explaning video –series from real trees and wood not only photos , in order to get the get the real picture , if you want to make a wood purchase and need to see wood colors , realistically .

So let’s begin our color guide :

1)Pitch Pine (pinus palustris) .

Its sapwood is yelowish open brown and the heartwood is darker brown , or “honey” brown , or reddish – brown with resin smell .

It covers all the brown range , with very beautiful shades of “honey” – reddish and darker brown , as you can see in the explaning video , in here .

2) Forestry Pine / Swedish Pine ( pinus sylvestris ) .

Ιts heartwood color is reddish brown and sapwood light yellowish . The same applies for theswedish pine , with some minor differences , mostly to the lighter range of brown .

3) Balsa Pine / Greek Pine .

Heartwood with yellow brown color .

3) Spruce / “White Wood” / White Spruce (picea abies ) .

Its sapwood and heartwood colors are quite the same in they are yellowish brown .

4) Greek Spruce / Kefalonian (abies cephalonica ) .

Sapwood and heartwood have the same colors , the yellowish brown .

5) OAK (europe) .

The heartwood has yelllowish brown to yellow grey color .

6) Oak ( USA ) .

Heartwood is yellowish brown to yellow grey .

7) Oak ( Japan ) .

Light yellowish – grey with reddish tones for the heartwood . It looks like the other 2 oaks .

8) Larch ( larix europaea ) .

Sapwood whitish and heartwood grey brownish .

9) Cedar Lebanon / (Cedrus libani -Pinaceae) .

Heartwood light brown .

10) Beech(USA) .

Heartwood reddish brown .

11) Beech ( European ) .

Heartwood yellow pinkish to light brown .

12) Chestnut(American) .

Light brown heartwood .

13) Chestnut ( European ) .

Heartwood light brown to yellow grey .

14) Walnut(American Walnut) .

Heartood , light to darker brown .

15) Walnut ( European ) .

Heartwood grey to brown .

16) Mahogany / African Mahogany / Nigerian Mahogany (meliaceae) .

Heartwood intense reddish brown .

17) Mahogany (USA) / American Mahogany .

Heartwood , intense or light reddish brown .

18) Cherry / American Cherry / Wild Cherry ( USA ) .

Heartwood intense red to reddish brown .

19) Cherry ( European ) .

Heartwood , pinkish brown .

20) Cherry / Cherry Blossom /Korean cherry / Sakura / (Japanese cherry) .

Heartwood bright redd one . Extremely beautiful .

21) Maple / Red / Oregon Maple / Hard Maple ( acer rubrum ) .

Heartwood , light to darker reddish brown .

22) Ebony / Ebony African / Nigerian Ebony (diospyros).

The darkest wood . Black .

23) Birch ( European ) .

Heartwood light yellowish grey .

24) Larch / Larix ( larix decidua ) .

Heartwood grey brownish .

25) Alder ( black – grey – japanese ) .

Heartwood reddish brown ,

26) European Linden(tilia europia) / Basswood(for the US) / Limetree /American Limetree (tiliaceae) .

Heartwood , is yellowish – brown .

27) Poplar / Tulip Poplar / ( Populus nigra ) .

Heartwood is yellowish brown to light green .

28) Willow Wood / Saule .

Heartwood is pinkish color .

29) Cypress / Greek Cypress .

Heartwood is yellowish .

30) California Redwood / Coast Redwood / Sequoia .

Heartwood is shiny reddish brown .

31) Rosewood – Brazilian tulipwood / Indian Rosewood(Dalbergia nigra) .

Heartwood is deep reddish brown to deep red .

32) Teak . / Sagon / Genuine Teak / Tekku ( tectona grantis ) .

The sapwood is light yellow and its heartwood is dark brown – gold color .

33) Acacia . / Robinia ( robinia pheudoacacia ) .

Heartwood is yellow brown .

34) Elm Wood / American Elm (ulmus Americana ) .

Heartwood is reddish brown .

35) Ash Wood . / European / USA ( Fraxinus ) .

Heartwood is grey brown with yellow & pink shades .

36) Olive Wood / European Olive .

Heartwood is grey brown with black shades .

37) Plane Tree / Lacewood ( platanus orientallis ) .

Heartwood is reddish brown .

38) Elm Wood / European ( ulmus ) .

Heartwood is light brown to darker brown with yellowish shades .

39) Bamboo .

All of its mass is light to darker , yellow brown .

40) Doussie / Lingue .

Heartwood is reddish brown , with pores .

41) Balsa ( guano ) .

Heartwood is yellow pinkish .

42) Anigre (muna).

Heartwood is yellow brown .

43) Azobe .

Heartwood is dark to dark brown and dark red .

44) Iroko .

Heartwood is golden orange to open brown .

45) Niangon .

Heartwood is light pink to reddish brown .

46) Meranti(dipterocarpaceae) .

Heartwood is dark reddish brown .

47) Obeche .

Heartwood is yellowish .

48) Limba .

Heartwood is from yellow to pink with some black shades .

49) Purple Heart / Peltogyne( Amaranth) .

Heartwod is from pink black color to DEEP purple in the sunlight . AMAZING beautiness .

50) Sapele .

Heartwood is pinkish to reddish brown .

51) Wenge .

Heartwood is dark brown .

52) Greenheart Wood / cogwood /( Lauraceae ) .

Heartwood is olive tree green .

53) Abura ( African – Mahogany species ) .

Heartwood is pinkish brown .

54) Ayous ( W. Africa ) .

Heartwood and sapwood have he smae color : Open yellow .

55) Bubinca – Boubinca ( Africa ) / Kevazingo in Gabon ) .

Heartwood is pink – red to darker reddish brown .

56) Kotibe ( Africa ) .

Sapwood is light white and heartwood reddish brown .

57) Koto ( Africa ) .

Sapwood and heartwood are yellow/yellowish color .

58) Movingui ( Africa ) .

Heartwood is light yellow to orange brown .

59) Ovankgol ( Tropical Africa ) .

Sapwood is light yellow and the heartwood is yellowish to reddish , or dark brown .

60) Pau Rosa ( Tropical Africa ) .

Heartwood is yellow – pink to dark reddish brown .

61) Zebrano – Zebra Wood ( Western Africa ) .

Heartwood is light brown with “creamy” brown lines as zebra has .

62) Palisander ( Magadaskar Rosewood ) .

Heartwood , is light yellowish brown to dark orange or reddish brown .

63) African Blackwood ( Mpingo ) .

Sapwood is yellow brown and heartwood is black , as ebony is . ( extremely rare / expensive )

64) Sandalwood .

Heartwood is white or yellow brown to yellowish brown and darker brown . ( extremely rare / expensive )

65) Pink Ivory .

Heartwood is pinkish – pink . ( extremele rare / expensive : the wood of zulu )

If you want to read the complete list of the wood types the carpenter needs to know & their characteristics(photos , et.c . ) , read it in , HERE .

66) The OSB .

The oriented strand boards , have the color of their inner wood parts , but it’s mostly brown in all of its range .

It has also greenish and grey areas – spots , created mostly from the time , moisture and wear – rot situations .

Is All wood , Brown ?

Wood hasn’t in all of its width , length and mass , the same color . If you take a log and cut a slice of it , you’ll see different colors from the outside peel(sapwood) , to its middle core(heartwood) .

As you go from the outside peel to the wood’s heart , you’ll observe that the color becomes darker , most of the times .

Wood absords all the colors of the colors range , except of the brown color , hues and shades . That’s why we see the wood’s color as brown mostly .

This applies for all the materials in our lives . As you may know , light has inside it all the color’s range (as you see in rainbows) .

We see a material to have a color , because it has the ability to “suck” all the color’s range , except of the color we see .

To give you an example , the chromosomes / molecules( in soluble forms ,many times ) of the leaves chlorophyll , absord all the nature’s colors , except the green ones ( all the hues ) .

The Carotene chromosomes , absorb all the other , except the orange ones and our carrots are orange , et.c .

The color of a wood piece defined in high grade( except the microclimate conditions ) from the interaction of the chemicals it has inside it with these protons .

Another very crucial factor which affects the color of the wood is the presence of wood bugs and fungi inside its mass . These insects affect and discoloring the wood’s color and this is called salting .

Some extra info : Wood has so many Varieties .

In general and this counts for every wood around the globe , every kind and type of wood ( “hard” or soft” ) is different to another , even if we compare it , in the same place .

If you take a variety of wood and you want to “test” them and their properties , you’ll discover that these wooden pieces have big and significant differences . One of those big differences , is the color of the wood .

1. Different Generic features .

These are the features which you can identify with “naked” eye , without special equipment or anything like that .

2. Different physical features .

These are the features the humans can recognize with their physic senses . The eye , nose , touch . The most importand are : shape , smell , the shape of the wood , the hardness and the weight it has . Inside the physical features every wood has , one difference is its color .

3. Thermical differences .

These are mostly the thermical “value” of the wood and the thermical easiness of it . The thermical easiness of the wood is the capability it has , to let the heat transpass it .

The thermical value of the wood is how “good” it burns and how much heat it produces from its burning . We count this burn value using the Kcal/kg , of wood .

4. Mechanical Differences .

Every kind of wood has different resistance to mechanical powers : pressure powers ( vertical , horizontal and from several angles ) , benting powers and breaking/hardness powers . We measure hardness as how resistance wood is in an object which wants to penetrate it .

5. Acoustical Differences .

If you hit wood it produces noises and of course you can use wood to make musical instruments .

6. Electrical Differences .

We measure in her how perviousness is wood to the electrical power . You know it of course and we all know it , that the DRY ONLY wood doesn’t let electricity pass through it .

The inside wood is drier than the peel and from there you can take the best quality of your wood’s mass . If you want to cut a board from your log/trunk , the boards you’ll take from the inner wood , has better quality than the outside areas , the majority of times .

Continue with your woodworking projects , don’t let anything to stop you and give yourself happiness .